Letter to the Editor: Recognizing PG&E for their Dixie Fire Settlement offer
As a resident and business owner from Greenville California, I wish to extend a great thanks to the local and regional District Attorneys, and to PG&E for their creative work to craft the proposed settlement offer to local governments, non-profits, and individual victims of the Dixie Fire.
It is clear that some victims, such as renters and homeowners without insurance, will greatly benefit from this PG&E settlement offer. But there are many details about this settlement which must be expanded, and further clarified, including compensation to business owners such as myself. My praise is conditional upon these missing pieces being later added to the overall Dixie Fire settlement as our work together progresses.
There is a lot of math to do. There is a lot of fine print to read. I am not immediately abandoning my possible lawsuit against PG&E, and I will continue to keep my options open. But I wish to also clearly give my praise to PG&E for what I see as a very far sighted move on their part, and a huge pivot away from the adversarial approach used for previous wildfire disaster compensation. I encourage everyone involved to take a step back from adversity, and sincerely make an effort to work together for our common good.
Looking beyond just the Dixie Fire itself, I see this proposed settlement by PG&E as potentially creating a powerful precedent for how we, as a society, approach the ever increasing need for recovery from climate related disasters. I believe that cooperation is our only long term hope to deal with climate change and the many impacts this will have to our lives. Perhaps this proposed PG&E settlement, combined with a positive response by those of us so impacted by the Dixie wildfire, can complete this huge step forward towards such a noble goal.
Ken Donnell
Greenville/Quincy
