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Renewable Energy Powers Jobs For Almost 10 Million People (bloomberg.com)

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency's (IRENA) annual report, the renewable energy industry employed 9.8 million people last year, which is up 1.1 percent from 2015. The strongest growth was seen in the solar photovoltaic category with 3.09 million jobs. Bloomberg reports: Here are some of the highlights from the report: Global renewables employment has climbed every year since 2012, with solar photovoltaic becoming the largest segment by total jobs in 2016. Solar photovoltaic employed 3.09 million people, followed by liquid biofuels at 1.7 million. The wind industry had 1.2 million employees, a 7 percent increase from 2015. Employment in renewables, excluding large hydro power, increased 2.8 percent last year to 8.3 million people, with China, Brazil, the U.S., India, Japan and Germany the leading job markets. Asian countries accounted for 62 percent of total jobs in 2016 compared with 50 percent in 2013. Renewables jobs could total 24 million in 2030, as more countries take steps to combat climate change, IRENA said.

132 comments

  1. Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by sethstorm · · Score: 1, Troll

    While coal and other environmentalist-hostile industries are assaulted by regulatory burdens. In addition, the alleged jobs in suitably-blessed energy forms do not translate well to places favored by coal - which can amount to an indirect assault on the Appalachian regions.

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    1. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by Jzanu · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You mean the US region that exists in the state it is exclusively due to a history of being overlooked for resource investments, both from government and business? That is greater reason to fix the infrastructure and provide greater US federal budget supplement to improve education both in schools and by establishing libraries and community education programs. One region can't hold back a country, much less the world which is the purview of the IRENA as it is modeled after the IAEA.

    2. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 5, Informative

      Not really... coal is just more expensive than natural gas.

      In at least a half dozen places, coal seam fires have rendered hundreds of square miles uninhabitable. We freak out when nuclear power renders hundreds of square miles uninhabitable.

      The trump administration is directly assaulting the Appalachian regions. Cutting jobs programs and their safety net. The proposed republican budget cuts the benefits, food subsidies, and state to state tax transfers which have previously benefited Appalachian regions even further AND gives the money to wealthy people (almost all to the top 0.1%- not even to the top 1%) .

      --
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    3. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by darthsilun · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Wait. Regulatory burdens put in place why exactly? Because without those nasty old regulatory burdens the industry destroyed the environment, shifting the real cost of that source of energy to the future , as costs to clean up the messes they made.

      Costs that in many cases were born by everyone, not just the people who mined that coal, or burned it.

      And then everyone said no, not any more you don't. And on top of that we place a dollar value preserving the environment.

      Basically pure, unfettered capitalism all the way around is what has destroyed coal in the Appalachians.

      But you want a Communist solution. You want everyone – everyone – to pitch in and make sure you have a good paying job.

      The Constitution doesn't guarantee you a job. There's no Amendment for that. You want Capitalism. You live by Capitalism. You die by Capitalism. Go join the buggy whip and candle makers.

      Or learn something new to make a living with.

      In times of profound change the learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. – Al Rogers

      In times of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists. – Eric Hoffer

    4. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately, the jobs created by mostly solar are very low paying. The skillsets required to install solar panels is not exactly hard to find. Wind is a tad better with some reasonably well paying maintenance jobs and a little more expertise required for siting and construction. Nothing comes close to the number of high paying jobs in nuclear. Gas pays fairly well and has a decent employment base.

    5. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure where the uninhabitable ones are...I haven't searched through the list here, but people have moved back into the town of Centralia, after it had originally been condemned. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

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      Just another day in Paradise
    6. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by jblues · · Score: 3, Informative

      Agree. That's why sustainable development goals aim to factor in externalities in the cost of goods.

      In economics, an externality is the cost or benefit that affects a party who did not choose to incur that cost or benefit. Economists often urge governments to adopt policies that "internalize" an externality, so that costs and benefits will affect mainly parties who choose to incur them. . .Voluntary exchange is considered mutually beneficial to both parties involved, because buyers or sellers would not trade if either thought it detrimental to themselves. However, a transaction can cause additional effects on third parties. From the perspective of those affected, these effects may be negative (pollution from a factory), or positive (honey bees kept for honey that also pollinate neighboring crops). Neoclassical welfare economics asserts that, under plausible conditions, the existence of externalities will result in outcomes that are not socially optimal. Those who suffer from external costs do so involuntarily, whereas those who enjoy external benefits do so at no cost.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

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    7. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by Rei · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm calling BS on this one. Even Cape Wind, the most expensive wind power in the US (really more of a research project), is only 18.7 cents per kWh. And the first power it's displacing some crazy-expensive oil-fired power. Wind currently averages 2.5 cents per kWh to produce in the US. Now, that's the cost to the grid operator, not the consumer, and you have to pair it with peaking, which will add a penny or so to the cost per kWh. But it's gotten absurdly cheap. US solar contracts are now starting to come in at under 4 cents per kWh. And at low penetration, they actually reduce peaking requirements rather than raising it.

      Furthermore, your claim "overall bill used to be 6 c/kw but now 9 c/kw and climbing, all due to wasteful subsidies" makes me even question whether you know what a subsidy is. If you were being hurt by a subsidy, it'd show up on your taxes, not your bill. If anything, your bill would get lower. And the $7B per year in subsidies for renewable electricity (which includes, by the way, research) equals $1.70 per month per person in the US. How does that compare to your electricity bill?

      Where are you, by the way?

      --
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    8. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are many square miles of uninhabitable land as a result of hydro.

    9. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by luis_a_espinal · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Unfortunately, the jobs created by mostly solar are very low paying. The skillsets required to install solar panels is not exactly hard to find. Wind is a tad better with some reasonably well paying maintenance jobs and a little more expertise required for siting and construction. Nothing comes close to the number of high paying jobs in nuclear. Gas pays fairly well and has a decent employment base.

      Better than nothing. Having lived in poverty once, I know that any job is better than none. Jobs might be low-paying, but if they are durable, that's one step in the right direction. It gets you one step, however short that it, towards climbing yourself out. It doesn't guarantee it (but what does?). But it gives you a fighting chance. Much better than flipping burgers where you barely learn anything (a type of I also did once, and which I'm grateful) or being stuck behind the counter at a mom-n-pop shop where you will never get a chance to climb up.

    10. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gas pays fairly well and has a decent employment base.

      Only during the construction phase. Those jobs are considered "independent contractors", and once the wells are drilled and the pads constructed, the jerbs go away. At that point, there are only a few people employed for an entire state.

      A lot of people bought into the "Good gas jobs" meme, especially small businesses who often made investments because they thought this was a long term opportunity, only to lose their asses when the companies pulled out.

      It wasn't that the frackers lied - they just allowed people to believe some pretty incorrect things. In the end, the woods have gone quiet again. I live in the fracking area, And people forgot about the last gas boom here in the late 1960's. Same thing. The only part ofthe process that requires a lot of people is the drilling and line construction. After that, a few people can service a whole state.

    11. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not sure where the uninhabitable ones are...I haven't searched through the list here, but people have moved back into the town of Centralia, after it had originally been condemned.

      I see. In the 2000 census, there were 21 people living in Centralia. In 2010, 10 living there. I'm not certain if you have been to Centralia, but there isn't many places to live.

      Anyhow, please explain how a drop of over 50 percent is people moving back.

    12. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by thegreatbob · · Score: 1

      I'd say their more assaulted by black lung, cave-ins, fires, and general pollution. The number of people desiring coal for any reason other than 'jobs' is likely very small.

      --
      There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
    13. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not an "inderect assault", it's genocide. It's a blatant destruction of a culture, in revenge for "betraying" the DNC. Notice the number of people on slashdot, which is hardly a liberal site, calling for the federal government to "fix" the culture. Go to anyh of the more progressive websites, or hell, even the NY Times editorials, and look at the vitreol and hatred being directed at the Appalachian cultures. It's genocide.

    14. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by nospam007 · · Score: 1

      Arby's employs more people than all the coal companies combined.

      https://www.washingtonpost.com...

    15. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The skillsets required to install solar panels is not exactly hard to find.

      So you're saying it would be impossible to re-train all those rocket surgeon coal miners to install solar panels?

    16. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck coal and the toothless hicks who can't be bothered to find better jerbs.

    17. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      That is greater reason to fix the infrastructure and provide greater US federal budget supplement to improve education both in schools and by establishing libraries and community education programs.

      This is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing. There are very good reasons that Appalachia has never been successful at anything other than resource extraction. By far the best thing we can do is help the people there move somewhere else.

      I grew up in Appalachia. My grandfather died of black lung disease. I left on my 18th birthday on a bus to Parris Island. I have relatives that left, and like me, are doing well. I have relatives that stayed, and are mostly living in trailer parks.

      The people should move to where there are opportunities, and Appalachia can become the world's largest nature reserve.

    18. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      I don't think anyone is making fists full of money these days in the oil industry. The glut of oil is keeping the price down, so that even jurisdictions that are collecting royalties are seeing overall revenues fall. The efficiencies being gained in shale oil and other non-traditional extraction techniques aren't exactly labor intensive, and it seems likely going forward that the economics of the glut means finding ways to continue to reduce labor costs will be a primary pressure. In other words, the notion that fossil fuels are going to be major job creators and revenue producers for governments is fading quickly.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    19. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

      Oh fuck off. Natural gas killed the coal industry. It had nothing to do with the New York Times or the DNC. Jesus Christ, the Alt-right really are some of the dumbest fucking idiots the world has ever known. "Da Libewals did it!" is just a mindless mantra.

      Jesus fucking christ, you halfwit, coal country is hardly the first time a major industrial region has faded, and it almost inevitably is simply a factor of some new competing technology or jurisdiction doing it better. The last thing any government should do is artificially support a fading industry. Britain spent untold amounts of money propping up industries in the 1960s and 1970s, until finally the pricetag became so high that Thatcher had to finally kill the subsidies and let those industries either fade or stand on their own.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    20. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      Only during the construction phase.

      This is the reason that the Democratic Party is losing the working class. Millions of welders, pipefitters, and carpenters spend their entire careers on one "temporary" job after another. That is how infrastructure is built. Then politicians in fancy three piece suits tell them they aren't doing "real" work.

    21. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      This is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing. There are very good reasons that Appalachia has never been successful at anything other than resource extraction.

      Besides the contour of the land, those reasons would be....

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      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    22. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by Barsteward · · Score: 0

      "Where are you, by the way?" - judging by the comments in his post, up his own ass

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    23. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      Besides the contour of the land, those reasons would be....

      That is reason enough. No one is going to open a software dev shop 60 miles up a winding mountain road.

      Another reason is the people. They are widely dispersed, uneducated, and proudly close minded. When I took my kids to Kentucky to visit their cousins, they were shocked at the cultural divide. These are the people that thought that building a replica of Noah's Ark was a good use of their tax dollars. And now they want other people to pay for their roads.

    24. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by MooseMiester · · Score: 1

      You might want to examine the financial statements of these companies before making such claims. While you're at it, examine the report being touted here which counts working in "renewable" jobs like picking up trash and hauling people's garbage.

      Marketing, Mighty Martian, Marketing. Companies making solar panels, wind turbines, and the like have exactly the same motivation as the oil industry. They are all paying the same bribes to the same politicians and all looking for the same favors, and they are all stretching the truth, planting stories in the media, and painting feel good pictures.

      --
      Murphy was an optimist
    25. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      Counterpoint to your post: The Kentucky Coal Museum is going solar to save money.

      That's some weapons-grade irony right there.

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      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    26. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      If I hadn't already commented, you'd be getting +1 Informative...

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      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    27. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      The installation jobs are just the tip of the spear. There's all the other jobs that any other energy company would have as well: IT, billing software development, accounting, customer service, marketing, logistics, etc.

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  2. World in reverse by Xenna · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    With this new renewables thing we seem to be reversing the normal order of things. Where we normally try to be as efficient as possible and use as few people as possible, with renewables it seems to be a good thing to employ as many people as we can.

    It's a wonderful new world.

    1. Re:World in reverse by Jzanu · · Score: 1

      Consider cost for efficiency in generation vs loss in transmission. Greater capital costs for equipment require state subsidy more than smaller ones, and it doesn't take much to understand that a PV solar panel array for a residence or pylon for a factory are more competitive.

    2. Re:World in reverse by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Insightful

      With this new renewables thing we seem to be reversing the normal order of things. Where we normally try to be as efficient as possible and use as few people as possible, with renewables it seems to be a good thing to employ as many people as we can.

      It's a wonderful new world.

      I think you are overstate the case. Everyone sees it as good if an efficient profitable business provides employment for a large number of people, it's not about employing people for the sake of it

    3. Re:World in reverse by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 1

      Right, it's called investment. A solar panel lasts for 30+ years. A lump of coal lasts about 5 minutes.

    4. Re:World in reverse by geekmux · · Score: 0

      With this new renewables thing we seem to be reversing the normal order of things. Where we normally try to be as efficient as possible and use as few people as possible, with renewables it seems to be a good thing to employ as many people as we can.

      It's a wonderful new world.

      I wouldn't count on this to last. Right now we're seeing a surge in employment as we build infrastructure and establish renewable markets. Once that's in place, Greed will step in and ensure that automation is maximized to require as few humans as possible to manage it all.

      Sure, renewable R&D will continue to maintain jobs, but that sure as hell won't amount to millions of people.

      I'm also expecting Greed to drive the Oil/Gas/Coal Industrial Complex to put a dog in this fight for profits, and start putting real political pressure on the renewable market. Political pressure can do a lot. You know, like make a standing President start preaching about how good coal is.

    5. Re:World in reverse by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

      Where we normally try to be as efficient as possible and use as few people as possible, with renewables it seems to be a good thing to employ as many people as we can.

      I thinik you got it a little bit backwards. With renewables - at least some of them - we're trying to employ as many people as we can because those people are mostly a function of growth and not a function of production. Solar PV, e.g., shifts most labor expenditure into manufacturing and installation. So it's not "let's employ as many people as possible for a fixed amount of energy generated", but rather "let's employ as many people as possible to increase the amount of energy generated as quickly as possible". When it comes to "operational efficiency", solar already beats coal, for example (at least if EIA statistics about operational costs are to be believed).

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    6. Re:World in reverse by geekmux · · Score: 0

      Right, it's called investment. A solar panel lasts for 30+ years. A lump of coal lasts about 5 minutes.

      Speaking of investment, automation solutions can last 30+ years, and run 24 hours a day.

      A human employee needs sleep, wants benefits, gets sick, demands days off, or could last about 5 minutes after injuring themselves the first day on the job, and be disabled for life.

      This surge in human employment may not last long.

    7. Re:World in reverse by Rei · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Reality is precisely the opposite. Transmission losses are very low (under 10% on average), but small batch installation costs on rooftop arrays kill the economics relative to large installations, which are installed in bulk with dramatically lower labour per unit nameplate capacity. Associated hardware (such as inverters) and grid links are also much cheaper per unit power at large scales. Even panels can be purchased and imported significantly cheaper when bought in bulk and all delivered to the same location. And as for subsidies, while both residential and commercial get the same ITC, residential installs also tend to be subject to a lot of state benefits as well.

      --
      You're treating a symptom while the disease rages on. The fish rots from the head. Why not cut off the head?
    8. Re:World in reverse by Xenna · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      If you disagree, fine, but reply, don't mod down...

      Now there's lots of replies but the original comment is invisible...

    9. Re:World in reverse by Rei · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Oil is only rarely used for power in western nations. In the US, oil really only competes for electricity market share in Hawaii (and to a much lesser extent in Alaska). And while gas is a competitor to solar and wind for baseload, it's also boosted by them for peaking. Solar and wind don't drive out coal and nuclear alone; they do so in combination with NG peakers. The amount of gas being needed depending on the strength of their grid links and the diversity of the resources (solar + wind > solar | wind; solar + wind in different geographic locations > solar + wind in the same place).

      Hydro works even better in combination with solar and wind than gas. But hydro capacity is geographically limited, largely tapped out (although you can uprate existing plants, which is being done), and concerning places with new generation possibilities, most people don't want them. Batteries will eventually win, and they're starting to make inroads into the grid in specialized applications, but they don't yet compete with gas for bulk peaking needs.

      ** Note: this is a bit of an oversimplification. At small penetrations, solar actually reduces peaking needs, as it tends to offset daytime peak usage. But this only applies up to certain levels of market penetration.

      --
      You're treating a symptom while the disease rages on. The fish rots from the head. Why not cut off the head?
    10. Re:World in reverse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Right, it's called investment. A solar panel lasts for 30+ years. A lump of coal lasts about 5 minutes.

      A new nuclear plant lasts 80 to 100 years. Windmills last about 25 years, but by that time even the generator has typically been replaced at least once, the blades replaced multiple times. Solar lasts longer in lower insolation/irradiance areas, degrades faster where it is higher. Claims made for long solar panel life are typically based on panels that are in less sunny areas.

    11. Re:World in reverse by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

      Hydro? It would be nice if we harnessed tides.

    12. Re:World in reverse by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      The cost of running and maintaining a nuclear plant are a lot higher than a windfarm. Nuclear is not the answer.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    13. Re:World in reverse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are probably right, but only because windmills aren't maintained. They are left to rot once they fail, while the industry focuses on harvesting subsidies for new generation.

      Per kWh, operating costs of nuclear are very small. Cost of power is 2-3c/kWh once the plants are paid off, and they can continue to provide affordable clean energy for several decades beyond that.

    14. Re:World in reverse by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      No nuclear plant can just run without maintenance, and it would be insane to want to. The economics have never been favorable to nuclear fusion, and has always required a pretty significant subsidy.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    15. Re:World in reverse by psmoot · · Score: 1

      I think you are overstate the case. Everyone sees it as good if an efficient profitable business provides employment for a large number of people, it's not about employing people for the sake of it

      Let's think about this a bit. As the employer and as a customer, employing fewer people is better than employing lots of people, all other things being equal. Of course, all things are almost never equal: it's difficult to maintain the same run rate with fewer people. But as the employer or the customer, jobs are a cost to be reduced.

      As a society, we want to use our most limited resource, people's time and energy, on things which make them happy, healthy, and fulfilled. If installing solar panels makes people happy, or gives them the means to do things which make them happy, well that's wonderful. But as long as the employee is doing the thing which (all things considered) makes them happy, I don't really care what industry that's in.

      Of course, that "all things considered" covers a lot of ground. It's a value judgement. I enjoy writing software. My wife valued raising our kids. Hipsters enjoy ordering deconstructed avocado toast for brunch and only work to support their habit. Solar installers probably get a kick out of knowing they're trying to improve the environment. It takes all types and that's a good thing.

  3. Re:Only w/ fetters on environmentalist-unblessed j by Jzanu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You are denying the economics that exists in favor of a baseless fantasy. Natural gas made coal unprofitable, and the only debatable "outside" force is the reality of responsibility for the externalities previously socialized out to the mining communities. Those costs must be made whole by the firms operating the mines as they caused the air and water pollution killing their own workers.

  4. Job Creation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If job creation is the goal we could implement a public works program where the government employs people to shift rocks manually to make a new pyramid or something, otherwise how is this good new?

    1. Re:Job Creation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The person who down voted this apparently thinks it's better to pay large corporations to employ people shifting lignite. Because then the large corporation can extract a profit while destroying the environment.

      But just giving money to people – eliminating the middle man – to shift other kinds of rocks – that's somehow bad.

    2. Re:Job Creation by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Pyramids generate tourism, renewable power plants generate electricity. US is not interested in tourism so it doesn't need to build pyramids. It does, however, consume inordinate amounts of electricity so power plants are preferable.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:Job Creation by dcw3 · · Score: 2

      The U.S. travel and tourism industry generated nearly $1.6 trillion in economic output in 2015, supporting 7.6 million U.S. jobs.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    4. Re:Job Creation by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 0

      US is not interested in tourism so it doesn't need to build pyramids.

      That could explain why tourism is suffering from the "Trump Slump" and Brand USA is being cut from the budget.

      http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/334828-trump-budget-kills-marketing-program-for-us-tourism

    5. Re:Job Creation by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      That doesn't contradict the general lack of interest, especially of the current administration.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    6. Re:Job Creation by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      $1.6T and 7.6M employees say you're wrong.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    7. Re:Job Creation by dcw3 · · Score: 2

      And just to pile onto my own comment, who the fuck do you think stays in Trump's hotels and casinos? The current administration makes a shit ton of cash from tourism, so you're an idiot if you think they don't care.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    8. Re:Job Creation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you believe that a real estate mogul famous for golf courses and hotels is not interested in tourism? Your hatred is affecting your reasoning ability. Already modded up other posts

    9. Re:Job Creation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      ...or the high dollar.

    10. Re:Job Creation by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      ...or the high dollar.

      A high dollar wouldn't cost a $10B drop in tourism.

      http://time.com/money/4687114/trump-slump-foreign-tourism-us-immigration-travel/

    11. Re:Job Creation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tourism in the US alone would be the 10th largest country by GDP. I guess if our US tourism is not interesting, then Canada, South Korea, Australia, Spain, and all the rest of the 182 countries with a GDP less than $1.6 trillion aren't interesting.

    12. Re:Job Creation by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      No, that says that the tourists are stubborn. That's a different observation from the one that US tries hard to be inimical to them.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    13. Re:Job Creation by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      More than a hundred of countries have greater economic dependency on tourism than the US. Those that are at the top are much more dependent on tourism, and therefore logically more interested in keeping it.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    14. Re:Job Creation by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Stubborn, really? I'd argue that you're the one being stubborn, arguing against facts put in that refute your point.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    15. Re:Job Creation by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      What facts refute my point? The US is provably not one of the tourism-dependent countries. It's not one of the tourism-averse countries either, but it's hardly dependent on tourism to the extent that would make it one of the US government's chief concerns.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  5. Re:Only w/ fetters on environmentalist-unblessed j by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Coal is being killed because natural gas is cheaper (thank fracking).

    Solar power is already cheaper than natural gas in very sunny locations. By 2020, it will be cheaper than natural gas in most locations.

    The real issue is battery technology and durability. Both are improving. An electric car fleet will improve on that further. Rooftop solar will improve on that even further.

    The only way coal will get cheaper is to automate coal mining. Which they are already working on. That won't bring back jobs. But it may save a lot of ex coal miners from cancer and various other coal related deaths.

    --
    She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
  6. Re:Only w/ fetters on environmentalist-unblessed j by Cipheron · · Score: 4, Informative

    Fetters? Coal + Oil get massive tax subsidies, as well coal not having to pay market rates for water (coal power uses a ton of water, they're giant steam engines basically).

  7. Employing people to generate your electricity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    This is a limitation, not a feature.

    1. Re:Employing people to generate your electricity by ls671 · · Score: 2

      I see what you mean. Hydro-Quebec hires 0.2% of that workforce while having 2% of the world capacity which would make them ~10 times more efficient than average.

      Granted, it is hydro power but nothing comes really "free" or at no environmental costs. Heck, you may very need oil to produce solar panels.

      http://news.nationalgeographic...

      https://www.quora.com/How-much...

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      http://www.ren21.net/wp-conten...

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    2. Re:Employing people to generate your electricity by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      This issue is quite exaggerated in many articles. Even so, the inputs decrease steadily for a unit of output, so even it it were a problem (it isn't already), it would eventually cease to be one anyway.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:Employing people to generate your electricity by Rei · · Score: 2

      The "it pollutes to make solar panels" argument is ridiculous. Of course it pollutes to make anything. But the amount of embodied pollution utterly pales in comparison to the amount of power that gets generated at no extra emissions while sitting out in the sun for decades on end.

      --
      You're treating a symptom while the disease rages on. The fish rots from the head. Why not cut off the head?
    4. Re:Employing people to generate your electricity by Rei · · Score: 1

      Also, there's a huge difference in terms of workforce employed to run generating infrastructure, versus workforce employed to build generating infrastructure. Solar and wind are undergoing huge scaleups at present. Hydro, not so much.

      --
      You're treating a symptom while the disease rages on. The fish rots from the head. Why not cut off the head?
    5. Re:Employing people to generate your electricity by ls671 · · Score: 1

      Remember the CPUs? Now, there is talks about new kind of computing because anything has its limits.

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    6. Re:Employing people to generate your electricity by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Of course it has. But when it comes to PV, we're somewhere around Pentium 4 right now.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    7. Re:Employing people to generate your electricity by ooloorie · · Score: 1

      Remember the CPUs?

      We didn't subsidize the purchase of CPUs.

    8. Re:Employing people to generate your electricity by ooloorie · · Score: 1

      Even so, the inputs decrease steadily for a unit of output, so even it it were a problem (it isn't already), it would eventually cease to be one anyway.

      Well, so we don't need government subsidies, tax breaks, or other market interference then: renewables will succeed on their own when prices have come down enough.

    9. Re:Employing people to generate your electricity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't need them, but you're getting them anyway. Because I can tell you're a FF freak, and those are still getting freebies from the government and ability to avoid the law. Nukes too get these breaks. So, yeah, no subsidies would kill 80% of the companies out there in the FF industry and nearly 100% of the nuke companies.

      It would harm less than half the renewables, most of those newly started up on VC that assumed a certain ROI that will no longer be realised.

    10. Re:Employing people to generate your electricity by ls671 · · Score: 1

      Or, alternatives have become too costly ;-)))

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    11. Re:Employing people to generate your electricity by ooloorie · · Score: 1

      Or, alternatives have become too costly ;-)))

      Why would the alternatives become more costly? Technology makes the discovery and extraction of fossil fuels cheaper and easier, just like it does for alternative energy sources.

  8. Re:Only w/ fetters on environmentalist-unblessed j by ls671 · · Score: 1

    Hmm... condensing the water and reusing it seems like a trivial solution to that specific problem of coal plants. GE says 99% efficiency for whatever it is worth:

    http://www.powerengineeringint...

    --
    Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
  9. Coal is the future! by bill.pev · · Score: 2

    What nonsense is all this alternative/renewable energy talk? As our leader says: the future is in coal! Open the mines! dig that black ore from the ground and put it into the sky! And screw Paris and our obligation to the world while we're at it. That's where the real jobs are. Let China and Germany, and well, the rest of the world have those puny jobs.. [interesting, well paying, lasting, fun, and beneficial to all as they may be.] We will be just fine with coal. Oh, and oil. And cars and factories that burn them in abundance. It's like a whole virtuous cycle of beauty and profit for.. somebody..

  10. Productivity? by jcr · · Score: 1

    The figure that matters is are KwH produced for the money spent. We could employ everyone on earth riding stationary bicycles to drive little dynamos for electricity, but that's not a worthwhile goal.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    1. Re:Productivity? by Gavagai80 · · Score: 1

      We could employ everyone on earth riding stationary bicycles to drive little dynamos for electricity, but that's not a worthwhile goal.

      You could get a billion dollar valuation for that idea, if you pitch it as a combination renewable energy and weight loss plan, and write an app that gives everyone little reward incentives for each mile.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank
    2. Re:Productivity? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      The productivity is high enough. It's a simple enough math: the selling const of the electricity, which is approaching rather low levels in some places already, is bound from below by cost of labor and non-labor (energy and materials) inputs. Clearly if you beat other sources by price, you can't be comparatively inefficient unless you're subsidizing it out of your own pocket. So the labor and non-labor inputs must be lower than the ever-shrinking PPA price. The Chilean solar price is already measurably lower than the "cost-efficient" brown coal generation facilities in my country.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:Productivity? by fermion · · Score: 1
      "The figure that matters is are KwH produced for the money spent. "

      Wind power regularly provides overnight sport prices that are negative. Even people on bicycles require regular food. Once fixed costs are paid, wind requires no such costly external inputs

      For comparison, rate payers in two jurisdictions are current paying about $100 a month for nuclear power they are not even getting, and may never get given that toshiba has written off $9 billions dollars and the unit has gone bankrupt.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    4. Re:Productivity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And at the same time fix the significant number of fatasses in this country, I see a good idea here!

    5. Re:Productivity? by swb · · Score: 1

      I liked that better as a Black Mirror episode than reality.

  11. Shocker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The energy source - the Sun - that has been powering our biosphere since the dawn of life on this planet, THE REASON why you can even sustain life in this miserable rock, an energy source so MASSIVE (literally), so mind bendingly potent that minor fluctuations on it can just wipe us out, is apparently also good enough to power a good chunk of our infrastructure?

    What an unexpected and shocking revelation!

  12. Re:Only w/ fetters on environmentalist-unblessed j by Rei · · Score: 1

    The issue is not whether the technology exists to reuse water. There are even technologies for power plants to use no water - totally closed loop and air cooled. It's about cost. And at a time where coal is already struggling, adding more costs onto plants is not a winning strategy for saving it.

    --
    You're treating a symptom while the disease rages on. The fish rots from the head. Why not cut off the head?
  13. We Need More And Fast by JimSadler · · Score: 2

    Clean renewable energy is needed big time. And we need to get it up and running faster than we are now. Sadly Trump pulling stunts like allowing more coal pollution will slow down clean energy growth. If Trump had outlawed coal the push for clean energy production would have sped up. The second part of the issue is doubling up on the profits of clean energy by making certain that the land used by energy plants also generates other income. Surely rows of mirrors could have fish ponds running along the rows so that fish farming could add to the value of the land use. Or maybe there is some crop that could thrive between the rows of mirrors. Sweet potatoes seem to be able to grow well under many circumstances. Even a little bit of land can offer a large sweet potato crop. Even a windmill could have a large rental apartment at its base. One way or another there has to be a way to make investment in renewable power more attractive for investors.

    1. Re:We Need More And Fast by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Total insanity.

    2. Re:We Need More And Fast by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Trump has had no effect on coal production. Coal production dropped due to increase in natural gas usage for power production, which has been going on for 20 years when the big push to build out combined cycle plants started. The costs to improve stack emissions have also helped to close some coal plants. Also, you aren't just going to shut down coal plants or make it illegal without getting sued for all those stranded assets. They have perfectly legal environmental and operating permits. The court settlements to the owners of those assets would bankrupt many states. If the government can just cancel permits and contracts at a whim, then you are advocating for a totalitarian state.

      If renewables can compete in the market for power development then it will happen. No one can mandate such capital expenditures. You are living in a fantasy land if you think the feds have that kind of power today.

    3. Re:We Need More And Fast by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      You can, however, price fossil fuels for the long-term costs they will produce. You know, how you assure that future generations don't subsidize today's energy usage. Natural gas is better than coal, but is in no way a non-greenhouse gas producing energy source.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    4. Re:We Need More And Fast by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Counterpoint: you're an idiot

  14. Re:Always remember by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Actually, we should appreciate Islam.

    Abrahamic traditions are based on hatred and bloodshed. They encourage members to sacrifice their bodies, their possessions and even their loved ones for the "cause" (i.e., line the pockets of the high priests), not to help others. Pain and suffering is glorified (see: man nailed to a cross). Destroying your enemies grants you the highest honours. Being an asshole "might" get you killed, but usually it is others around you that suffer the consequences. The asshole might get eternal punishment in hell, a place that seems to be no different from Earth, except that physical punishment becomes moot, since, you know, you are already dead, so physical pain is meaningless. And of course, God singles out people and punishes them in absurdly harsh ways just to make a point (see: Job).

    The message is clear: Worship God, or else (and even then, watch out because he might throw a tantrum). The message is, of course, shrouded in huggy-feely crap to make it more palatable to the masses. People tell you that you have to "interpret it", and not take it literally. You know, they bullshit you.

    Islam got rid of all the bullshit and goes straight to the point: Kill your enemies. Women are shit. Be charitable to your neighbour (so that he can help you kill enemies and spit on women). Praise Allah.

    Simple. Concise. Effective.

    It is the ultimate version of the continuous refinement of a message of hate.

  15. USA Today version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Natural gas made coal unprofitable, and the only debatable "outside" force is the reality of responsibility for the externalities previously socialized out to the mining communities.

    For the rest of us: miners dumped toxic shit and the taxpayer had to pay to clean it up or worse, live with it - like having to buy bottled water on their own dime.

  16. Re: Always remember by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Burma shave!

  17. Re:Only w/ fetters on environmentalist-unblessed j by WhiplashII · · Score: 1

    The problem with your approach to the issue is that the miners are human. Specifically, they are humans that are already hurt and losing their jobs. And you are suggesting that we sue them (any attack on the industry will be taken personally), destroying whatever jobs are left.

    It's called kicking a man when he's down. It hurts worse to the man, engenders sympathy from all the other humans, makes you look like the enemy, and loses your team the election.

    Really, coal plants where going out. In a few years we wouldn't have many coal miners regardless of government actions. But by taking severe regulatory actions, Obama made the Democrats own the problem.

    --
    while (sig==sig) sig=!sig;
  18. This is a terrible metric to watch by mattwarden · · Score: 1

    The purpose of power generation is to generate power, not employ people. AEI claims 79x as many people are required in the solar industry to generate the same power from a coal plant. I have not dug into the numbers and am not citing the stat to bash solar, only make the point that this is not a good thing to be celebrated. We want solar power to generate tons of energy while employing very few people.

    1. Re:This is a terrible metric to watch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The purpose of power generation is to generate power, not employ people. .

      yes exactly the whole point is for the machines to run themselves, humans have no role in the world of tomorrow

    2. Re:This is a terrible metric to watch by Khashishi · · Score: 1

      AEI is full of shit. If solar took 79x as many people as coal, it would cost much more than coal.

    3. Re:This is a terrible metric to watch by mattwarden · · Score: 1

      Your implied claim that solar is cheaper than coal requires evidence. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...

      Not to mention solar generates for ~4.5 hours per day and comparing it to baseline power is silly in itself.

      But my point is about the headcount metric being a poor proxy.

  19. Re:Only w/ fetters on environmentalist-unblessed j by necro81 · · Score: 1

    Those costs must be made whole by the firms operating the mines as they caused the air and water pollution killing their own workers.

    While I agree that the coal companies have much to answer for - specifically, exploiting the land and their workers - I myself cannot renege on my own responsibility in this matter. I am a consumer of electricity, and products containing steel, and the myriad other things that coal contributes to. Therefore, I (and all of society, including those who think their solar panels absolve them) share the in the responsibility.

    That said, I would love for coal to have to bear the burden of its externalities - they've gotten a free ride for way too long. If that increases the cost of coal and coal-generated electricity, then fine: it'll reduce electricity consumption, further reduce coal's share of electricity generation, and hasten a less carbon-intensive economy.

    Need to take care of the miners, though.

  20. even better! by ooloorie · · Score: 2

    We could employ even more people in the renewable energy industry if we generated energy (renewably!) by paying people to run in human hamster wheels coupled to generators! Lots of jobs and green energy! What's not to like?

    1. Re:even better! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We could employ even more people in the renewable energy industry if we generated energy (renewably!) by paying people to run in human hamster wheels coupled to generators! Lots of jobs and green energy! What's not to like?

      it would certainly be the most suitable job for you and your mental capacity

    2. Re: even better! by ooloorie · · Score: 1

      What can I say, I get paid what I'm worth.

  21. Re:Only w/ fetters on environmentalist-unblessed j by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

    And coal kills..

  22. Breakdown on the numbers? by TheHawke · · Score: 1

    Are they full time? Part time? Contract? Temp? Hellooo.... Odds are the majority are contractors and temp laborers, "disposable" labor. Just wait a couple of years then you'll see the truth behind the numbers as the millions hired suddenly get the axe.

    --
    First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
    1. Re:Breakdown on the numbers? by wyHunter · · Score: 1

      Indeed. Once you install solar panels...do you need people?

  23. Which comes at the cost of environmentalism by sethstorm · · Score: 0

    While coal and other environmentalist-hostile industries are assaulted by regulatory burdens. In addition, the alleged jobs in suitably-blessed energy forms do not translate well to places favored by coal - which amount to an indirect assault on the Appalachian regions.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
    1. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      And once again, renewables had little to do with coal's decline. That was natural gas. The only "assault" on the Appalachians is the march of time. Coal is dying, and no amount of grand promises from the guy currently sitting in the White House will reverse that.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism by sethstorm · · Score: 1

      And once again, renewables had little to do with coal's decline

      Aside from being pushed along with overzealous environmentalism. What may seem nice in Aspen or Davos definitely does not fly in Appalachia.

      But if you want to insist that environmentalists are pure as the driven snow, persist in your strong delusion. They are the ones that are trying to kill coal for being too unfriendly to them.

      --
      Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
    3. Re:Which comes at the cost of environmentalism by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Coal wasn't killed by environmentalists, it was killed by natural gas. Coal mining regions around the Western world have seen labor declines for years, and while I'm sure environmental regulations play a part (as they should, coal is just plain fucking to mine and burn, it's a dirty fuel from beginning to end). Even where coal is still being mined, it's increasingly automated, so any kind of recovery in coal isn't going to deliver the jobs from that region which you seem to care so very much about.

      Sometimes, you just have to sit the buggy whip factory employees down and explain to them "It's over". Coal is never coming back. Natural gas is killing it, and renewables will be the death blow, if it doesn't die long before they dominate. It would be better to encourage all those miners sitting around waiting for the jobs to come back to seek job retraining, and yes, maybe they will have to move. This is like bitching because the Klondike can't support thousands of prospectors anymore.

      And really, do you give even the tiniest shit about coal miners?

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  24. You're false on that one. by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    Many failed candidates, especially Democrats, have openly showed their contempt for Appalachian regions while Trump embraced them.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
    1. Re:You're false on that one. by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Well, he said he was going to embrace them, but the fact is those jobs are gone, and gone forever. Coal mining is a fading industry, largely killed by natural gas, but in the end renewables will deal the death blow. What needs to be done is job retraining and economic diversification, not selling people fantasies of coal's return. A leader should seek to better peoples' lots, not simply tell them what they want to hear, and then pursue policies that will in fact do them great harm.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  25. Throwing education at them will not fix it. by sethstorm · · Score: 0

    On the other hand, perhaps working with the people that do exist would be a good idea.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
  26. Re:Only w/ fetters on environmentalist-unblessed j by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm German, you fucking idiot - go troll elsewhere.

  27. So renewable energy costs 8 times more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Information from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that non-renewable energy employs 6.4 million workers to produce 84% of energy in the US. So if 9.8 million workers provide the remaining 16% renewable energy that means it takes eight times as many workers to produce the same amount of renewable energy as provided by non-renewable energy. Assuming rough parity in pay in the two energy sectors, that means that renewable energy costs roughly eight times as much as non-renewable energy.

    So touting how many jobs are provided by the renewable energy business is just "spin."

  28. Why does this keep being reported as a good thing? by Solandri · · Score: 1

    Improving efficiency in energy production means generating the same amount of energy with fewer jobs. Solar provided 0.45% of the world's energy in 2015. If it needed 3 million workers to do this, then providing 100% of our energy with solar would require 667 million workers, or 8.9% of the world's population.

    When India was building a dam, the chief designer toured the construction site and noticed men digging with shovels while the heavy earthmoving equipment sat unused. He asked his guide from the Indian government why they weren't using the equipment. The guide explained that this project was as much about creating jobs as it was constructing the damn. The designer replied, "Then why don't you have the workers digging with spoons? You could employ a lot more people that way."

  29. Allegation, not fact. by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    Well, he said he was going to embrace them, but your allegation is those jobs are gone, and gone forever.

    Natural gas hasn't really killed it, environmental regulation did. Remove it, tell the Sierra Club to pound the Sahara Desert into glass, and note the resurgence of coal.

    Job retraining won't do worth shit, since you make the faulty assumption that the people are defective and must be made to conform to business desires - versus businesses making do with the people we have. Second, it assumes that meaningful jobs will exist for those nearing or well north of 40 or with non-standard skillsets - as employers would only take them if forced.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
    1. Re:Allegation, not fact. by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Regulations definitely made it more expensive, but without regulations, coal is bloody awful; both in the mining and burning. Would you want to live anywhere near an unregulated coal-powered plant? Seriously? You understand that coal is pretty close to the worst polluting way to generate electricity there is, and it's only through regulation that the coal industry ever cleaned up. I don't know how anyone can defend deregulating coal, it would be insane, polluting the air and waterways.

      But natural gas, particularly with all the fracking, is so cheap right now that there's no point in refurbishing existing coal plants, and certainly no point in building new ones. Where there is demand for coal, the mining is increasingly automated, so even where it makes sense to mine it, you won't get the jobs back.

      Coal is dying, and any skill set that is limited to coal extraction is dying just like buggy whip manufacturing. I enjoy how you've become some sort of champion of coal miners, but I think we both know you're full of shit.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  30. Re:Only w/ fetters on environmentalist-unblessed j by MooseMiester · · Score: 1

    The subsidies given to small wildcat drillers in the oil industry are a medicine dropper of money compared to the truckloads of cash given to the solar, wind, and battery industries. Most of that money would have been better off burned to create electricity, given the endless parade of colossal failures. Stop all subsidies to solar, wind, batteries, electric cars, coal, oil, and natural gas and THEN see what happens. Wind farms would vanish in a day. EV sales would continue to be anemic. Solar would have to compete on a level playing field.

    --
    Murphy was an optimist
  31. That's environmentalism gone amok. by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    Only if you forget that coal use is less toxic than production of solar panels.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
    1. Re:That's environmentalism gone amok. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really.

      With coal, you just keep blowing the tops off of mountains, making poisonous slurry that you have to store forever unless a dam breaks and it destroys a whole river system. Then you have to burn the coal and send all kinds of shit up the stack into the air - sure, you scrub some of it out, which you also have to store forever because it's amazingly toxic. And what you release out the stacks poisons everyone downwind with particulate pollution causing increased asthma rates and cancers, to say nothing about macro-environmental effects of releasing carbon that has been sequestered underground for millions of years.

      Oh, but somehow that's less toxic than making a solar panel, which you only do once and it operates for 25+ years? You're a fucking industry shill if I've ever seen one.

  32. Efficiency... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I remember a few years back when Ontario's prime minister Dalton McGuilty claimed that the solar sector was now responsible for providing 50,000 new jobs in the province, yet (back then) solar accounted for only 0.5% of the power generated. No wonder electricity costs have gone through the roof in Ontario! To money to cover those extra bodies on payroll has to come from *somewhere*.

    So assuming those numbers are factual (they're *not*, but that was his pitch - honest!) and assuming a linear progression, if you wanted to scale that up to 5% of the power being solar (10x), you'd need half a million people. If you wanted 10% of the power being solar, you'd need a million. If you wanted a quarter of the power being solar, you'd need 2.5 million people in that industry alone, in a province of not even 14 million people (the most populous of the country), or 18% of the population.

  33. Throwing education at it will not work by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    On the other hand, perhaps working with the people that do exist would be a very good idea.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
  34. Throwing education at it will not fix it. by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    On the other hand, working with the people that do exist would be a good idea.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
  35. Which comes at the cost of environmentalism. by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    While coal and other environmentalist-hostile industries are assaulted by regulatory burdens. In addition, the alleged jobs in suitably-blessed energy forms do not translate well to places favored by coal, which can amount to an indirect assault on the Appalachian regions.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
  36. No, the denialists are the environmentalists. by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    They cannot accept coal as a power source, so they do everything to hobble it - including pushing the lie of natural gas.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.