Good graphic out of Brown on value of renewables, in this case renewables construction jobs by district. It’s an economic win, being blocked by dirty fossil fuel industry politics. https://t.co/rlYk3Si9Px pic.twitter.com/xRP0igen8U
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) July 22, 2022
This interactive map will give you details on the number of jobs, traffic, electric savings, lives saved, along with types of jobs created. Give it a look.
How were these numbers calculated?
All the numbers on this site are estimates. We can’t know exactly how many jobs will be created or deaths will be avoided thirty years in the future. But we do have good data on how many people it takes to install a solar panel, and how pollution affects human health. Using these data, it’s possible to make projections about how moving towards net zero will create benefits for Americans.
The estimates we use are all based on publicly available scientific projections. They’re not always available at a local level, however, so we use various techniques to sort out where in America the benefits are likely to end up. The description below explains how we do that. We’re continuing to improve our methods, so if you have ideas on how we could do a better job, be in touch!
Renewable Job Impacts
Stanford University’s 100% Wind, Water, and Solar (WWS) Project (Jacobson et al. 2022) studies how the U.S. can make the transition to fully renewable power by 2050. As part of their study, they project how many long-term jobs will be created by building and operating new renewable energy infrastructure in every state (a “long-term” job is one that creates 40 years of employment). They also project the total amount of compensation these new jobs will earn in each state. The Jacobson et al. data include separate estimates for different kinds of renewable infrastructure (residential rooftop solar and offshore wind, for example, are likely to generate jobs in different places).
Much more at the link. I’m off for the day.
Consider this an open thread.
SFAW
For some unknown reason, I get e-mails from the RNC, “conservativeintel,” TFG (and his minions), “Patriot News,” and various other RWMF propaganda shops. Yesterday, I received one asking me to take a survey re: which of TFG “accomplishments” I liked the most.
One of them was “Record Unemployment.” I was tempted to respond that, yes, more Americans became unemployed during the last full year of TFG’s reign than ever before in the history of America.
My guess is that what they wrote and what they intended were not exactly in line.
Steeplejack
Supposed to run up to 98° today in my corner of NoVA, maybe 99° tomorrow, although I think it will be a couple of degrees lower than that. (Just based on the forecast I check tending to be a skosh high.) Humidity “only” 60%, slightly unusual for summer in the DMV. The temperature is unusual, although 90° is not.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Was researching possible museums to include visiting during the upcoming trip to NYC and came upon this notation in bold face for one of them:
“Museum will be closed July 22 and 23 due to extreme heat.”
Frank Wilhoit
The jobs that might be created by renewable energy would require education. The Republican Party will not permit that.
Kelly
@Frank Wilhoit: Or IBEW union jobs which are just as distasteful to Republicans
trollhattan
Get frustrated that the vision of what it would be like to not pay attention to $/BBL for crude oil isn’t universal or even widespread. We can reduce the fraction of energy sourced from it and gas to the point we’re not affected by the moves or OPEC or Russia or anybody.
Houston, we have an Exxon problem.
California continues to chunk away at adding solar and wind and now, mega battery banks. That overnight loss of solar generation must be addressed and batteries are a big component of the solution. I do recall back in the day when we had large hydro to call upon at night but that was in the days when it rained.
HumboldtBlue
Please don’t wake up Andrea Mitchell.
Villago Delenda Est
Joe Manchin, staunch ally of fossil fuel, is doing everything he can to destroy the future.
Ken
I’d like to see some of those “like a rock” truck commercials where the five guys in construction outfits get out of an electric truck, and start working on a wind generator or a solar roof installation.
Though for all I know, these are playing already — I’m not exactly watching for them.
Nelle
@Ken: Great idea!
p.a.
@Ken: How many of those truck drivin’ workers in commercials are women and or people of color?
Won’t need two hands to count!
Ken
@p.a.: I’ve seen people of color, but not women. Advertisers have their idea of the target truck buyers, and the result usually looks like tryouts for a Village People cover band.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
Not sure about this argument, but Americans may not value a great job market like they used to…
The Atlantic, “Why We Hate Rising Prices More Than We Fear Losing Our Jobs” by James Surowiecki
trollhattan
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: Scare-mongering a return to Ford-Carter-Reagan (only the last one doesn’t count, because St Ronny) stagflation is just wrong, but they’re happy to do it anyway. Without Russia simultaneously driving up food and energy prices I wonder if inflation would even make page ten. As it is, employment remains very robust, vastly different from the ’70s-’80s landscape some of us remember with dread.
Baud
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:
They don’t care because people love taking Dems for granted. If unemployment were high and inflation low, they would care about unemployment.
Geminid
I’d like to see a fact sheet listing every significant initiative to combat climate change by all federal agencies and cabinet departments. And another fact sheet listing every like measure in legislation passed by this Congress, particularly in the Infrastructure bill. We obviously need to do more, but some people frame the failure thus far to pass the climate portions of the BBB bill as meaning that the Biden administration still hasn’t accomplished anything in this area and that is not so.
JaneE
The solar facility near Kramer Junction, CA started operating in the mid 80’s. It started being decommissioned in 2015. They have been demolishing it for a long time, and right now it looks as though the concrete foundations are being ground into gravel or sand. Two of the units (there were 7 total) were already replaced with photovoltaic panel facilities. I don’t know how many people are employed in the demo, but they will have jobs for quite a while at the rate things are going.
Dan B
@trollhattan: There are several great battery technologies on the horizon including a baseload system that relies on the physical properties of Carbon Dioxide. It can be compressed into a liquid at ambient temperature and then released to power a turbine. The plants are inexpensive and fast to deploy. The nuclear folks are scared. Good!