Holding PG&E's feet to their own fire

News writing and reporting is not simply about consolidating and then regurgitating personal accounts of important events. Good reporting often times involves research and investigation in order to “call out” or shine a light on injustice. You could write an investigative piece about inequality of pay, expose a congressperson for corruption, or even a company for its negligent business practices.

It’s been a little over a year since the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) explosion that killed eight people and set a San Bruno neighborhood ablaze occurred. Since that time, there has been serious investigation into what caused the explosion and if there was any negligence on the part of the PG&E, who have not exactly been forthcoming with information that might incriminate them.

What’s amazing is that over a year later the Public Utilities Commission is still uncovering new evidence proving how guilty PG&E really is. Just yesterday in the San Francisco Chronicle, there was a front-page piece citing evidence that PG&E installed a “salvaged or junked transmission pipe” back in the 1940s and ‘50s. According to the article, some of the pipes they used weren’t even any good 70 years ago and probably haven’t gotten any better from 70 years of being buried in the dirt.

I understand that public utilities companies are businesses and provide services that should be paid for. But it’s inexcusable to jeopardize public safety in order to increase profit margin. This PG&E disaster is a perfect example of why government oversight is so important in certain situations. Government may waste a lot of taxpayer money and get a lot of things wrong, but it can rarely be said that American government does not act with the best of intentions for its people.