What’s Up in Coal Country: Alternative-Energy Jobs

It's great to see a young person like Sean Phelps you pictured, with an open mind. Pursuing something risky, challenging & as he put it "Fun". And turn it into a possible Career. This is the American way - not wasting his time whining & tweeting, but out there doing & learning. The so called "President" could learn something from this kid.

Now if Elon Musk could put a battery plant in WV these folks might see the folly of carbon based fuel and expand their thinking.

The #1 person in America who should already be aware of the compelling facts revealed in this inspiring and important piece is the very same individual who would not read it if it was placed, literally, in front of him. I suspect that instead he would defiantly, stupidly, crush it into a ball and hurl it in the direction of the nearest wastebasket, while mouthing his usual airhead falsehoods about the "tremendous", "beautiful", "amazing" long term benefits of fossil fuels. MAGA!

This is a sign of hope for the future, but a lot more of this kind of initiatives are needed if anthropogenic global warming is to be offset. Thankfully the Chinese are making massive efforts in this direction, and the US needs to follow their lead. Not gonna happen under the current kleptocracy, though..

Re-training coal miners to do tech? Hmmm. Where have I heard that idea before? Oh.. That's right. Secretary Clinton was pushing it during her campaign for the Presidency and was severely castigated for such heretical ideas.

Here's the deal. Long wall mining and other forms of dangerous task automation eliminated about 700,000 jobs in coal mining between the early 1930's and 2008. Then deep fractured nat gas production and conventional coal-fired power plants that reached the end of their useful life combined to make coal a poor choice for 21st century utility generation. Enviro freaks try to take too much credit for the technical/financial evolution, Conservatives mired in Ayn Rand believe in devil that doesn't exist. The market and technology killed coal - full stop.

Oh, that's what Hillary meant! Retraining and helping coal miners build their future in the reality of where energy jobs are going in the US - natural gas, wind, solar. Gosh, it was so hard to listen to her with all that email din.

While the GOP and Trump pretend that coal is a viable future energy source, foreign solar and wind companies cash in. Not too happy with the Dems either for not fighting harder for the alternatives that are happening in a big way regardless to what Russian and Fox fake news tells us.

Anthropogenic global climate disruption is THE greatest threat facing humanity (and most higher life on Earth). We have now entered the sixth mass extinction in the planet's history — the first since we homo sapiens arrived about 200,000 years ago. Those who deny this reality are either ignorant of the facts, incapable of understanding them, blinded by ideology, have vested financial interests or are mentally ill — none of which are mutually exclusive. The science is clear, unambiguous and irrefutable: if we are to have any hope of mitigating this growing cataclysm, then we must keep, at the very least, eighty percent of remaining carbonaceous fuels undisturbed where they lie. From just two sustainable sources — solar energy (photovoltaic and thermal) and wind — we can supply substantially more energy than the entire human race consumes, using off-the-shelf technology that will only become less expensive, more efficient and increasingly more reliable, over relatively short time. Sustainable energy is widely distributed, abundant, reliable and literally inexhaustible. It is clean, safe, environmentally friendly — and its source cost is IDENTICALLY ZERO (which is precisely why the Carbon Cartel, nuclear-fission power industry and their boughten politicians are dead set against it). If the U.S. does not rapidly migrate to the energy infrastructure of the twenty-first century — and well beyond, then we will be left behind by the rest of the world (in more ways than one).

And if Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell had a shred of decency and honesty, they would be touting alternative energy opportunities. Instead, they spout off ridiculous lies about a "War on Coal" and bringing back coal jobs. They tell the gullible voters what they want to hear, in a cynical effort to continue their political careers, and the hell with the truth.

The median income in America is roughly 50 thousand. So these coal miners we've been hearing about in "poor, neglected, backwards" Appalachia are use to pulling in six figures? So why are they so backwards and neglected? Could low taxes have something to do with it? All those coal towns, you think they'd have some of the best public schools in the country. You think they'd be sending their children to the best local colleges to escape the dreary work and those pesky inconveniences like coal miner's lung disease. Most communities where the main source of employment paid double the national median would be thriving boomtowns with state of the art everything, from schools to infrastructure. Coal has declined from providing half our electricity needs to only a third? That's a third too many with climate change manifesting not in the future but in the present, not to mention the air pollution and generally negative impact on the environment. (Not that wind and solar don't have their drawbacks, but everything's relative.) I have less sympathy for these coal miners than I did before reading this article. Clearly those miners making six figures in parts of the country where the cost of living is far lower than in metropolitan areas failed to save and invest, emphasize the importance of education to their children, and vote for sufficient local taxes to improve their communities.

The rooftop is the most dangerous part of the roof. A little bit of safety training goes a long way towards becoming a foreman. For solar, start with the electrical trade. If already in solar, learn design skills to get off the roof and into the office. A little bit of training goes a long way, but watch out for solar "training" programs that are primarily funded with grant money. They have the least motivation to update their curriculum to where the industry is currently at. Good instructors need field experience!

American ingenuity and work ethic has no limits when let loose to thrive. Re-investment in our factories fosters the need to re-invest in our workforce. That our manufacturing might became "The Rust Belt" squandered thousands of buildings and hundreds of thousands of skilled workers. Allowing China, Germany and so many other nations to take over building of products we used to make here fed their coffers, and unlike our Bankers and Investors, their corporate owners built the next generation of industry.

It is evident that coal is problematic. It is no longer a sound solution to our power needs. The transition is a difficult one no matter what is done. Generations of miners in towns purpose built for one thing; coal mining. I feel for the people in these areas. I want them to to have an ability to create decent lives for themselves but they need help to do it. Trumps lies are going to set these people back even further. I like that there are people in these areas that are working hard to offer alternatives to coal. It is hard to learn that these alternatives do not offer the same benefits that these workers were used to. It is also disheartening that in this era people still expect to find six-figure jobs with just a high school diploma. It seems that education has become more important than ever.

New England has been reinventing its economy for 200 years. That is why the original settlements are still thriving while Virginia's have disappeared. That's what Hillary was trying to tell people but I guess they just didn't like the sound of her voice even if she was right.

An inspiring story of technological innovation, economic adaptation, and social consciousness all rolled into one and developed in areas which need all of the above. I congratulate those who are using their imagination and energies to improve the communities adversely effected by reliance on a single industry in decline.

Authors and readers extol the virtues of renewables while restraining talk about the cost of the subsidies and the tax credits which has enabled their construction. And then there is that one lagging question which is hardly ever discussed, "Who is going to pay for the grid?" Remember, when the grid goes down, everything stops and chaos follows.

So much for Big Coal... But mark it, Trump will take credit if the transformation is successful even though it is President Obama's 8 years of effort laying the groundwork to this point.

Unfortunately, energy infrastructure jobs as job creators are grossly over hyped. Solar installations don’t take very long. Most of the work doesn’t require a high level of skill, so they won’t be high paying. Once completed the systems last over 20 years with minimal ongoing maintenance, so there is not much repeat business. Material costs makes up most of the project costs and most panel and inverter manufacturing moved offshore a long time ago. If tax credits and incentives end or solar power is produced in enough supply to force it to be priced at unsubsidized market rates, (see Duck Curve already affecting California), the industry will implode. Batteries add significant costs unless heavily subsidized and are as likely a long-term solution as clean coal. Wind farms are also not big job creators. Once installed, there is minimal ongoing maintenance. Most of the manufacturing is already offshore. Conventional power plants once built, last for 50 years or more. After construction ends, they employ a small staff. They do require a lot of engineering work, but much of that can be outsourced overseas. Energy infrastructure jobs just don’t create and sustain the kind of labor that manufacturing jobs do.

Alternative energy will replace fossil fuels with the development of higher capacity storage batteries. Tesla in the US and many companies in Asia are one the cusp. I was a doubter initially but no longer. Electric vehicles will replace those using fossil fuels. Electric vehicles are much easier to maintain. Smaller safer nuclear electric generation plants are being built worldwide but not here.

Godspeed to the apiary at Camp Lightfoot, but that fence isn't going to keep a bear out.

Hillary Clinton was honest in 2016 and Donald Trump was...well...a demagogue. What a surprise!

It's way past time for people and their local and state governments in states such as Wyoming and West Virginia to look to the future rather than remain mired in the past tied to dying industries - and ones that do much damage to our environment to boot.