I don't think the equity holders call it getting off easy when they lost over 50% of their value in their investment.
What about all the homes and businesses and people who died and were injured? What about all the land, and crops, and trees? What about air quality and harm done to all the peoples' lungs being in that? Usually how bankruptcy courts work, those are considered "unsecured debts". They're handled below everything else, and usually not paid at all. And that's why PG&E is doing this, to dump them.
As a person (and not a figment of my imagination corporation), I can't declare bankruptcy for student loans, even though they're eating me alive. Not available. And that's for dubious "classes" of various quality at the local university. Yet if a company kills people, or has malfeasance that leads to their deaths, its cool... Just declare chapter 11 and rid yourselves of "dead weight".
Global warming is an issue at play even though it is always easier to point the finger "at the evil [X] corporation"