Pacific Gas & Electric (Bankruptcy)

PG&E's 2019 bankruptcy—triggered by wildfire liabilities exceeding $30 billion—illustrates how infrastructure organisms face existential risk from climate adaptation failure. California's largest utility emerged from bankruptcy in 2020 but only after equipment-sparked fires killed 100+ people. Like a coral bleaching under warming seas, PG&E's century-old infrastructure couldn't adapt to California's new fire climate. The company that powered the Gold Rush proved unable to maintain equipment in an era of extended droughts.