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PG&E said in January it would be filing for bankruptcy. Gov. Newsom is asking the state legislature to protect utilities from the costs of fires, perhaps by setting up state funds to pay off homeowners for damages. He hasn’t said how much that might cost, or whether taxpayers would be on the hook, or — if so — why other California residents should hold the bag for people who build houses in fire zones or flood areas.

Photo by Noah Berger/AP Photo

This is all pertinent to Canadians because a spate of unusual weather has led to damaging floods in parts of Ontario and Quebec. The cottage-country town of Bracebridge, Ont., is suffering through its second “100-year flood” in six years. Neighbourhoods around Ottawa are fighting to save homes, while Montreal and nearby regions have declared a state of emergency.

As we all know, a crisis is one thing, but a crisis that affects residents in Ottawa, or the big voter regions near Montreal or Toronto, is a problem for all Canada. Thus the CBC reports that “politicians are beginning to ask whether it makes sense to allow residents to rebuild in flood-prone areas.”

After touring stricken neighbourhoods near Ottawa, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale declared: “The federal government and the provinces and municipalities need to think through very carefully how we prevent ourselves from simply doing the same old thing over and over and over again, and expecting a different result.”

Gee, ya think?

For years now, the war on carbon emissions has focused on a campaign to introduce a tax. Liberals, New Democrats and affiliated activist groups have championed the tax, culminating in the successful imposition of varying levies across the country. Gasoline prices have jumped, conservative forces are in a state of rebellion, and the courts are labouring through various challenges launched by non-Liberal provincial leaders.