Christine Pelosi: Deadly Priorities: Why Did PG&E Spend Millions on Politics, Instead of Pipelines?

As the San Bruno community struggles to recover from the deadly PG&E pipeline blast and fire, many are asking why the California utility spent tens of millions of dollars on politics before they repaired pipelines that their own surveys said were crumbling beneath their customers' feet.

I drove to San Bruno yesterday with my baby daughter (our 9/11 service activity was to donate clothes to the fire victims). We visited with first responders, volunteers, and community residents putting their lives back together. The spirit in San Bruno was cooperation and concern - people are still looking for loved ones and survivors are in shock. There was also a growing concern for the next one: just as earthquake victims wonder about aftershocks, the PG&E blast victims wonder what other pipelines lie crumbling beneath their feet.

This is a terrible tragedy -- and it didn't have to happen. Even before the deadly PG&E pipeline blast ripped through the San Bruno community, killing at least 6 people, destroying dozens of homes, and rendering hundreds homeless, the utility knew that they had a potential problem because their own survey listed the San Francisco peninsula pipelines as "high risk" (PDF).

As the investigations begin, the prevailing question is why? Why did the pipeline burst? Why didn't the utility spend ratepayer money on fixing the high risk problem? Why did management decide to spend ratepayer dollars on political campaigns instead of pipeline repairs? Why set these deadly priorities? If the two decisions were not related -- why weren't they? And what will we do to make it right?