Bill Resnick talks with Mari Rose Taruc of the Utility Justice Campaign. For 25 years she has organized environmental justice (EJ) campaigns for clean air, affordable housing, renewable energy and climate solutions in local, state, national, and international arenas. Today she coordinates the Utility Justice Campaign of Oakland, California. They are seeking a publicly- accountable takeover of the Investor-Owned Utility, PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric, which has no relation to PGE in the Portland area). PG&E is now in bankruptcy for its negligence and mismanagement, yet still it’s brazenly seeking a bailout that could shift the costs of the wildfires and natural gas explosions it has caused to the ratepayers. In contrast, a state takeover of PG&E (and there is some support for that in the state legislature) could over time create an equitable sustainable, decentralized restructuring of California’s energy system.
- KBOO