PG&E should pay a substantial fine, but not to the point where it endangers the company’s long-term health. Extracting that extra pound of flesh may seem appealing, but such an approach is contrary to the basic tenants of safety. In this scenario, PG&E would likely be forced to forgo capital improvements and safety upgrades in other areas. Even assuming they can borrow additional funds to pay the penalty, they will pay a much higher borrowing rate which ultimately results in higher energy costs for the very last group of people who should be impacted; PG&E’s own customers.
93% of EPA employees are ‘Non-Essential’
Reuters obtained an EPA guidance in which the agency said it would “classify 1,069 employees, out of 16,205, as essential,” which is about 6.6% of the agency’s workforce, in the event of a government shutdown, which occurred on Tuesday.
The transportation, trade and utilities industry added 54,000 jobs in SeptemberPrivate-sector employers increased payrolls by 166,000 jobs in September, the ADP Research Institute reported on Oct. 2. Employers added 159,000 jobs in August, which was revised down from 176,000. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News expected 180,000 new jobs.
Majority of Frequent Fliers Unhappy with TSAEighty-five percent of frequent flyers think that TSA is doing either a poor or fair job in performing security screenings at the nation’s airports, according to a new survey of frequent flyers conducted byFrequent Business Travelermagazine.
The survey found that the typical American frequent flyer continues to hold the TSA in fairly low regard, with 65.6 percent of respondents indicating the TSA’s screening procedures are either not effective or not too effective at preventing acts of terrorism on an aircraft.
PHMSA Awards $45 Million in Pipeline Safety GrantsThe U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has announced that 46 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will receive nearly $44 million in Pipeline Safety Base grants and 23 communities around the country will share nearly $1 million in Technical Assistance Grants to augment state and local pipeline safety efforts.
Miami University drills deep for green energyThe school is well on its way to a coal-free future with an ambitious, multi-stage project that would heat and cool 40 percent of the Oxford campus using a geothermal system and while converting the rest of campus to natural gas.
A utility master plan approved last year calls for the elimination of coal use by 2025, a tall order for a sprawling campus that educates more than 17,000 students annually, using its own coal plant to fuel steam boilers through miles of underground piping.