“Climate change is looming. But America has lost 600,000 clean energy jobs”
Los Angeles Times,
By: Sammy Roth, May 13, 2020
The federal government has offered little support for renewable energy thus far. In a tweet last month, President Trump said that his administration would “never let the great U.S. Oil & Gas Industry down” and that he had instructed top officials “to formulate a plan which will make funds available so that these very important companies and jobs will be secured long into the future!
Trump’s approach to recovery ignores the climate crisis, which is driven largely by the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, and which is already contributing to worsening wildfires, droughts, floods and sea level rise in California and across the country.”
There are far more clean energy jobs than coal mining jobs. The future will require even more clean energy workers. We need to stop protecting coal minor jobs and move to retraining them as clean energy workers.
Read the full article: https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2020-05-13/half-million-clean-energy-job-losses-amid-coronavirus
“How Renewable Energy Could Emerge on Top After the Pandemic”
YaleEnvironment360
By: Beth Gardiner, May 12, 2020
“The short-term prospects for wind and solar power look rocky amid the economic upheaval of the coronavirus. But long term, renewables could emerge stronger than ever, especially if governments integrate support for clean energy into Covid-19 economic-recovery programs.”
“Leaders must seize the opportunity to design economic recovery packages so they accelerate a shift toward wind and solar power, rather than propping up the fossil fuel economy, said Francesco La Camera, director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency, an intergovernmental body. ‘The only thing we have to be afraid of,’ he said, ‘is that governments can be pushed by lobbyists to bail out sectors that belong to the past. And this is the real danger.’”
The fossil fuel lobby, using great financial reserves, buys support in Congress. Unless the people vote and get rid of Donald Trump, there will be no progress on clean energy.
Read the full article: https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-renewable-energy-could-emerge-on-top-after-the-pandemic
“EPA decides to reject the latest science, endanger public health and ignore the law…”
The Conversation
By: H. Christopher Frey, Glenn E. Futrell Distinguished University Professor of Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University, April 30, 2020
“The COVID-19 pandemic and economic shutdown have temporarily produced clearer skies across the U.S. Meanwhile, however, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been busy finding reasons not to pursue long-lasting air quality gains.
On April 30, 2020, the agency published a proposed new rule that retains current National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter without any revisions. It took this action after a five-year review process, in which scientific evidence showed unequivocally that these standards are not adequate to protect public health.”
After five years studying particulate matter in the air and how it affects you and me, qualified scientists with no agenda other than protecting us, recommend that National Ambient Air Quality Standard be changed. The Trump administration says NO!
Read the full article: https://theconversation.com/epa-decides-to-reject-the-latest-science-endanger-public-health-and-ignore-the-law-by-keeping-an-outdated-fine-particle-air-pollution-standard-136226
“Repowering The US Economy With Clean Jobs”
CleanTechnica
By: Carolyn Fortuna, April 18, 2020
The article points out that clean energy jobs are one of the fastest growing industries, having grown 10,4% since 2015. Small businesses, a most important part of the United States economy, represent a major employer of clean energy workers. The article goes on to recommend the creation of federal and state initiatives to stimulate this industry with very specific recommendations.
Read the full article: https://cleantechnica.com/2020/04/18/repowering-the-us-economy-with-clean-jobs/
“Legal experts, NGOs blast EPA move on air quality standards after higher pollution linked to COVID-19 deaths”
UtilityDive
By: Catherine Morehouse, April 15, 2020
“In the EPA’s review of whether to update the standards for particulate matter, which is produced from burning coal and other industrial practices, the agency found “there are important uncertainties in the evidence for adverse health effects below the current standards” and therefore proposed to keep them the same. But last fall, a group of 20 former EPA staff, let go by Administrator Andrew Wheeler in 2018, wrote a 183 page letter to the EPA detailing evidence that not changing those standards could have dangerous health consequences.
Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is required to periodically review standards for six primary pollutants, based on human health and environmental impacts. A recent Harvard study found higher air pollution could lead to more COVID-19 deaths, and is contributing to protests from environmental and health experts who say the EPA should not be keeping outdated air quality standards in the midst of a health crisis.”
It’s all about protecting coal minors. They should be training them to be clean energy workers.
Read the full article: https://www.utilitydive.com/news/groups-blast-epa-move-to-maintain-air-quality-standards-after-higher-pollut/576034/