By: Vincentius Michael
If you go to a Trump rally in West Virginia, you will probably see a lot of coal miners with MAGA hats chanting about how Trump will bring coal back. The same can be seen at other top US coal producing areas like Wyoming and Pennsylvania. Obviously, coal is bad news for the environment. The pollutants released when coal is burned includes but are not limited to mercury, lead, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides. Its health impacts vary from asthma to brain damage. Add with the fact that coal’s carbon component, when burned, creates carbon dioxide that traps heat and worsen global warming, it’s clear that we should move away from coal rather than back to it. But at the crux of this problem is a question of what to prioritize, do we prioritize the jobs of the coal miner and making the economy great again or do we sacrifice that for the sake of our children’s future. Should this really be the question though? Is this truly a Sophie’s choice because environment and economy can’t work hand in hand?
Alternative is productive
The cost of setting up a solar energy system has been declining in the last 5 years, with the rate of cost decline reaching 20% in the US. Here’s the interesting part, if you use fossil fuels for your electricity, you will pay 5 to 17 cents per kilowatts-hour, however, using solar energy means paying a rate of 3 to 6 cents per kilowatts-hour. This is a far cry from the claim that solar energy is inaccessible due to cost. In fact, solar energy efficiency is so high that some households can sell back excess energy produced.
These numbers are not an outlier. In 2017, the cost of wind energy was $30-$60 per megawatt hour, compare this with coal power which cost $60/MWh at a minimum. The price of installation in 2018 has also decreased by 40% since 2009. In 2025, the cost of running an existing coal plant will even be more expensive compared to building a new wind or solar power plant.
Fears on the inability of alternative energy to power entire sizeable areas like cities are also unfounded. According to the World Economic Forum data, there are now 100 cities who power 70% of their electricity with alternative energy such as hydropower, geothermal, solar, and wind. These includes cities in developed countries such as Vancouver and cities in developing countries such as Nairobi.
The data has more than shown that alternative energy can maintain and even exceeded the productivity levels created by fossil fuels. Making the switch is thus also an economically smart decision.
Welcoming the green jobs
There’s a huge fear on all the jobs that will be lost with the death of coal and other fossil fuel industries. A question that we often forget to ask, however, is the jobs gained from the shift to alternative energy and the rise of green technology. In US alone, the amount of people working in alternative energy is three times those who work in fossil fuels. The rate of employment has also been growing, with 110,000 new jobs added in 2018, and a stunning predicted rise of about 6% in future years.
Coal meanwhile, even with the rise of Trump, has had their production decline by almost half. Studies by the EIA (Energy Information Administration) predicted that coal production will drop another 44 million ton by 2020. This drop in production will further threaten the jobs dependent on the coal industry.
The challenge is on helping coal workers make the transition to green jobs. This, however, is highly manageable. There are numerous job options in the green industry, including but not limited to electricians, power plant operators, roofers, material removal workers, etc. These jobs also exceed the national average wage by about 8-19%. The best part is that many of these occupations have lower educational requirement than their coal counterpart, especially in the productivity and efficiency sector. Green electricians, carpenters, and plumbers have about 50% of their workers not having anything beyond a high school diploma. Having policies like boosting direct training offering and on the job training can further ease the transition to green jobs.
All in all, becoming green is not only a decision rooted in morality for the sake of our future, it’s also a decision that is economically beneficial. The choice is not one between a rock and a hard place. The only question is whether we want to take it.
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