Trump and Pence, along with the right wing sycophants, are trying to suggest that we are economically doomed, if we adhere to the dream of clean renewable energy. According to them, our future lies in coal, and oil. So, that is the direction they have been determined to push our economy, since they took control.
Let's look at some hard facts, so we will understand where our people are being guided.
Right now, jobs in "clean energy", outnumber those in the fossil coal and gas industry by five to one. However, the United States still lags behind both China and Brazil when it comes to the total share of renewable jobs globally.
Renewable energy employs 8.1 million people worldwide, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) — and 3.5 million of those jobs are located in China. The Chinese government has already announced plans to invest heavily in the renewable energy sector in the next three years, aiming to create 13 million more renewable energy jobs by 2020. That will give them almost 17 million jobs in renewable energy.
The Trump administration, in contrast to China, has shown little interest in spurring innovation or job creation in the renewable industry. This is in spite of the fact that clean energy jobs are growing at a rate 12 times faster than the rest of our economy.
The administration proposed “skinny budget” cuts funding to Department of Energy programs, aimed at investing in clean energy innovation. Programs targeting energy efficiency — a sector that supports 2.2 million jobs nationwide, would also be cut under Trump’s proposed budget.
Trump prefers to focus on jobs in the coal industry, I suppose that is to fulfill a campaign promise. He has added 1,700 jobs in the coal industry, since taking office. Even so, jobs in the American coal industry, are down over 50%, since 2011, due to a number of factors, not the least of which is automation. Another factor is that electricity production from the use of coal, is down 35%.
The major contributing factor to power producers using less coal, is the low cost of natural gas, and the side benefit that natural gas burns cleaner. Power producers, like TVA, don't have to be concerned with the storage of coal ash, which lessens their cost even further. So, they are unlikely to "re-tool" their plants, to return to burning coal.
Today, we have 50,000 people working in the coal industry in the United States. Compare that to the number of people still employed by J.C. Penny, which stands at 104,000. So, the jobs in the coal industry, are not major stimulants to our American economy. Even with the addition of a new mine opening in Western Pennsylvania, we are talking about an addition of only 70 miners.
In the meantime, while we allow the "flat earthers" to dominate the conversation about global warming, we are allowing the rest of the world to pass us by. While we argue about whether scientists know what they are talking about, we are losing our technological edge to countries like China, and Brazil.
Who is going to buy our coal, when the rest of the world eliminates their reliance on coal, and fossil fuel? Beijing closed it's last coal fired power plant, and is abandoning coal mines all over China, in favor of clean energy. So, where is the future, in chasing jobs that dominated our economy 100 years ago? Just like there is no longer a use for whale oil, the world is rapidly leaving the age of coal behind.
It’s clear this administration is talking about energy jobs the wrong way. If we truly want to grow our economy, reduce air and water pollution, protect public health and create huge numbers of new jobs for American workers, we must seize the opportunity that is right in front of our eyes, and invest more in clean energy including solar, wind, storage and energy efficiency. That is where the future lies.
Chattanooga
* * *
Mr. Dagnan, China is still building new coal fired generating plants at the rate of two steam plants per week. Even though China has the largest coal reserves in the world, they have to import coal to keep up with their demand for electricity. According to an article in CEE News, China gets 65 percent of its electricity from coal now, about 12 percent hydro, four percent wind and one percent solar, the rest is natural gas powered, another fossil fuel, and a small amount of nuclear. China is nowhere close to passing us in technology. China will rely on coal as the main power source for decades to come.
China has 20 percent of the world's population. That's equal to the population of North and South America, Australia, New Zealand and all of western Europe combined. They use a lot of coal.
Cheer up. Even though we as a nation won't have to send billions of energy dollars to build windmills in the Congo, you can start reducing your carbon footprint right now and save money doing it. Walk to work, or ride a bicycle, turn off your air conditioning at home and work, turn off your refrigerator, buy just enough food for each day. Read everything before it gets dark outside. Sounds a bit extreme, but I enjoy all those things that our technology has brought to us.
Harry Presley
* * *
Coal is not dead. One example is Germany , a world leader in solar and wind power, but they still use and sell soft coal and will for many years to come.
We have to seriously ask ourselves if the world will give up certain fuel sources to allow alternate power and fuels to catch up. What convenient source of power or fuel would you or your neighbors stop using tomorrow?
Henry Ford was building electric cars. His good friend Thomas Edison convinced him to drop the development of the vehicles because, according to Edison, "The U.S. has unlimited reserves of oil." One real barrier would have been the construction of enough charging stations for those cars. What did that lack of foresight and research cost our environment? We will never know.
Unfortunately, once people have convenience, it's extremely difficult to dial that back to an earlier, more simple existence. Yield to mass transit instead of a personal vehicle? Curb huge sports arenas and racetracks to save power? Build homes partially underground? Give up much of the plastics we depend on and use more paper and glass? Limit urban lighting to save power? Stop the destruction of the rain forest? Do the house to house work of maximum recycling? Convert more and more jobs to allow employees to work from home? What will it be? Who is going to sacrifice something, anything to benefit the environment?
Teddy Ladd
Ooltewah