We're living in the "Golden Age of Copper Theft"

We are at the height of copper theft right now, caught in a combination of easy copper availability, high prices, and scrap metal dealers willing to look the other way. Copper theft caused an explosion recently at the University of California-Berkeley, attacked power stations in Wichita Kansas 50 times in the first four months of the year, and stole copper from a rail connection in Queens.

When will it end? And when will the authorities start requiring scrap metal brokers to use better practices, like record basic information about their sellers?

Image courtesy Flickr/dbwildo