Page de couverture de California Burning

California Burning

The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric--and What It Means for America's Power Grid

Aperçu

30 jours d'essai gratuit à Audible Standard

Essayez l’abonnement standard gratuitement
Choisissez 1 livre audio par mois dans notre collection contenant plus de 900 000 titres.
Écoutez les livres audio que vous avez sélectionnés tant que vous êtes membre.
Profitez d’un accès illimité à des balados incontournables.
L'abonnement Standard se renouvelle automatiquement au tarif de 8,99 $/mois + taxes applicables après 30 jours. Annulation possible à tout moment.

California Burning

Auteur(s): Katherine Blunt
Narrateur(s): Nan McNamara
Essayez l’abonnement standard gratuitement

8,99 $/mois après 30 jours. Annulable en tout temps

Acheter pour 6,99 $

Acheter pour 6,99 $

À propos de cet audio

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
2022 Winner of the Golden Poppy Award for Nonfiction (California Independent Booksellers Alliance)

A revelatory, urgent narrative with national implications, exploring the decline of California’s largest utility company that led to countless wildfires — including the one that destroyed the town of Paradise — and the human cost of infrastructure failure


Pacific Gas and Electric was a legacy company built by innovators and visionaries, establishing California as a desirable home and economic powerhouse. In California Burning, Wall Street Journal reporter and Pulitzer finalist Katherine Blunt examines how that legacy fell apart—unraveling a long history of deadly failures in which Pacific Gas and Electric endangered millions of Northern Californians, through criminal neglect of its infrastructure. As PG&E prioritized profits and politics, power lines went unchecked—until a rusted hook purchased for 56 cents in 1921 split in two, sparking the deadliest wildfire in California history.

Beginning with PG&E’s public reckoning after the Paradise fire, Blunt chronicles the evolution of PG&E’s shareholder base, from innovators who built some of California's first long-distance power lines to aggressive investors keen on reaping dividends. Following key players through pivotal decisions and legal battles, California Burning reveals the forces that shaped the plight of PG&E: deregulation and market-gaming led by Enron Corp., an unyielding push for renewable energy, and a swift increase in wildfire risk throughout the West, while regulators and lawmakers pushed their own agendas.

California Burning is a deeply reported, character-driven narrative, the story of a disaster expanding into a much bigger exploration of accountability. It’s an American tragedy that serves as a cautionary tale for utilities across the nation—especially as climate change makes aging infrastructure more vulnerable, with potentially fatal consequences.
Environnement Science Économie Electrical Business
Pas encore de commentaire