APR 07

Does anyone have any numbers about the number of jobs elminated by the shift to mountaintop removal coal mining?

This piece on wind jobs outstripping coal jobs is erroneous and a bit outdated. The Huffington blog post ran three months ago and some holes in the article were exposed in a Fortune article (see link below). Understand, I am a committed proponent of renewable energy development and spend most of my time campaigning against coal and coal-fired power; that said, we need to keep the debate factual to move forward with legitimacy.
http://features.csmonitor.com/...han-coal/

Regarding the question on mtr eliminating coal mining jobs: I don't have exact numbers but as a rule mtr coal mining ops will employ 50%-80% fewer "miners" than underground coal ops. Those are significant numbers in the southern WV and eastern KY coalfields. I believe the mtr mining jobs in WV alone run around 3,000 (total coal mining jobs in the state are ~14,000) and one can extrapolate from there.

In general, the more mature the industry, the fewer people you will need to accomplish the same unit of work. Its not quite mature.

The renewable energy industry has a lot on its plate these days. Not only is our industry charged with reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign energy and helping to save the environment, but now we’re being asked to carry the weight of creating millions of new jobs too. Personally, I think this industry is up to the challenge.

The Obama administration’s stimulus package earmarks more than $20 billion for green pursuits. Sure, the goals are lofty – doubling the nation’s renewable energy output over the next three years, for example – but that’s the point. When you combine very aggressive goals with a significant investment in renewable energy, logically one could deduce that this would spark the creation of a large number of jobs in this sector.

In addition to the financial commitment from the stimulus package, the new Middle Class Task Force (led by Vice President Biden) has indicated that renewable energy job creation is a pillar of the nation’s economic rebuilding program. Mr. Biden highlighted that investing in green job creation would provide three key benefits:

•More jobs – and better paying jobs – to keep up with 21st century needs
•Lower energy costs
•A cleaner environment

Because renewable energy and energy efficiency markets represent a major, new industrial sector, green technologies will drive job growth at local, national and global levels. For example, countries like Germany and Spain have made huge investments in renewable energy, so it stands to reason that these countries will become similar hotbeds for job creation.

I work with a company by the name of Fat Spaniel Technologies -- www.fatspaniel.com -- in San Jose, CA. San Jose's Mayor Chuck Reed has touted green tech as a major driver for San Jose’s economic rebuilding program (including in his State of the City address back in January), and he highlighted the fact that clean tech companies created more than 1,500 jobs in San Jose alone last year. He expects that trend to grow this year, and he has even called out Fat Spaniel as one of the companies helping lead this trend. We definitely have faith in the ability of this industry to not only create, but also to maintain, jobs well into the future.

I always wondered other then the obvious problem of getting the materials and lines to the tops of the ridges, why isn't WV and that whole region covered with wind turbines? The times I've been through there it always seems to be windy and would seem like a perfect place that needs an economic shot in the arm.

I for one,would rather work in 21st Century Wind Technologies than in 18th Century coal mining technologies. isee cash and innovation in one, slow degradation to the end of "Cheap Coal" and short-cuts to and early death in the other. Just a working fellow's point of view, but the better breaks and best job security are going to be in the newer tech by design. Some of the "old school" notions of what is humane for a man to in his day's work do lack a 21st Century dimension.

Working in a green career seems like a good track