“The Daily” is one of the leading podcasts in the country. Expertly produced by the New York Times with host Michael Barbaro, the subjects covered are wide ranging and often gripping.
Yesterday’s report was about the historic fire in Maui and featured one man’s story of his harrowing escape from the flames that consumed most everyone around him. More than 1,000 people are still missing.
Apparently the fire was caused by downed power lines that ignited dry grasses in the area, and with high wind speeds caused by Hurricane Dora, the conflagration became inevitable.
The event has caused officials to take a good look at our energy grid and assess its future viability.
Things don’t look good.
Just to maintain reliability of the 600,000 miles of power lines and the 9,200 electric generating units, it’s estimated that $1.5 trillion will need to be spent in the next 7 years. Climate change has exacerbated the situation by accelerating demand on the system.
If the Republicans gain control of the legislature in the next election, it’s expected that Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy will be made permanent, costing the government every bit of the one and a half trillion dollars that could be made available to fix the grid.
Comments