Ottolay

The liability risk from the fires is so high nobody is going to want to invest money in PG&E to fully clear all the fire prone lines. Also significantly raising prices is usually not allowed. Instead the existing share holders just try to bleed out whatever money they can.

When the free market does not work for a necessary public service it should be time for the government to take over.

The real answer is to get rid of fossil fuel powered cars - gasoline or diesel.

It's a trade off.

Diesel engines are more efficient at using the energy in the fuel and as a result produce less CO2.

However, diesel engines generally produce more NO2 and particulate emissions which causes local pollution. There are technologies which mitigate these pollutants for diesel engines (such as urea injection and exhaust gas recirculation) which are required in the US, but I believe there is less stringent requirements for them in Europe.