My apologies for re- visiting the climate change issue again after three days, but this is important. Any hope of moderation from Mr. Trump seems to be hopeless. He knows what he knows. In a speech yesterday Trump omitted any mention of renewables and signalled a return to fossil fuels. “On energy, I will cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy, including shale energy and clean coal, creating many millions of high-paying jobs.”
“Clean coal”? A contradiction in terms. There is no such thing, and pretending that the coal can be made “clean” economically, mining jobs be restored and coal be a profitable and socially acceptable option, is a whole lot of pandering nonsense. The industry is dying on its feet.
One has to feel deeply for those who often risk their lives to dig coal and who currently have no options as far as jobs are concerned. But the way to deal with the agonies of West Virginia, its unemployment, foul air and water and low standard of living, is a massive effort to re-train the workers and give big incentives for new industries to locate there, along with measures to clean up the environment and encourage retailers and strt- ups to open up there. For those who don’t know West Virginia I can assure the reader that no one in the US should be tolerating the poor living conditions there.
This Trump policy, however, affects the rest of us and threatens future generations, while being excessively cruel to West Virginians, who, without the help outlined above, will be sorely disappointed.
It is amazing that after all these years, all the statistics, reports and warnings, that anyone can still think that current climate change on this planet is a purely natural event and not caused by the activities of mankind.
I suggest raising money for a monument that will list the names of all the people who have taken money from oil companies to impede the efforts to prevent climatic disaster. In a hundred years time tourists will visit the memorial to read the names of those who have made their lives intolerable, all for the sake of money.
The truth is, the quicker coal dies off, the better off West Virginia will be. If the state tries to hang on to coal for as long as it can, when it finally becomes unprofitable (or when government subsidies dry up), people will have nowhere else to go. Its far better to have a swift but inclusive transition away from coal, that ensure everyone finds alternative means of employment, than to preserve coal for as long as possible.
There are excellent examples of a transitioning economy being a success. Take for instance, East London. The area used to be know for its dockyards, which employed thousands of people. But ultimately, the docks weren’t suited to the big container ships used for freight nowadays. So instead of trying to hang on to the docks for as long as they could, London’s planners transitioned towards business and financial services. Today, the Canary Wharf complex employs as many, if not more people than the docks ever did, and those jobs are far better paid. Industries come and go, its the wellbeing of the people that ought to be the priority.
Clean energy is something every country should use more of. But climate change makes the transition to renewable urgent. It also means that rich countries should accelerate the transition through government subsidies or renationalisation of the energy sector, even if this means less profit in the short term. In the long term, failing to deal with climate change will be far more costly than reduced profits for the energy companies.