(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Renewable Tuesday: The Renewable Transition for Workers [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-03-05 Wind and solar farms do not directly replace coal, oil, and gas jobs, but the renewables industry as a whole does. These stories need to be told loudly and often on general principles, and as part of this year’s election campaigns. We can’t leave this to the malarkey-spinners. This is what happens when a wind farm comes to a coal town In 2022, the country's first major climate policy, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, passed with the promise to speed up that transition, offering at least $4 billion to boost development of renewable projects like the Pinnacle Wind Farm in Keyser. That law passed with the key vote of West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, but Tillman is skeptical that those benefits will reach Keyser. "Manchin [is seen as] selling out to Biden and his fellow Democrats, and politically that hurt him," says Kercheval. "But at the same time, there's all this green energy money that's coming to West Virginia and the last two years has seen more economic development announcements than I can remember in this state." Hoppy Kercheval hosts the daily radio program Talkline on West Virginia MetroNews and has been on the air for nearly 50 years. Those "green energy" dollars funneling into a predominantly conservative state with a historic connection to coal have created political dynamics that Kercheval describes as paradoxical. Researcher Eleanor Krause, who studies labor in the renewables sector, points out another challenge. "Coal mining employment happens where coal mines exist," she explains. "These coal mines aren't necessarily the same places where the wind blows and the sun shines the brightest, and so it's not necessarily the case that we can just replace coal mines with wind turbines or solar panels." I and others have pointed out that the sun shines and the wind blows on all of the mountain tops whose peaks have been blasted off for coal. There are more than 500 of them in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. They all have roads and electric power lines. Truth Brigade: A Deal Deal for WV? Renewable Thursday: Coal Fields to Solar Farms Blasting off the rock overburden from a coal seam 👍 President Biden’s Department of Energy announces renewable projects in remote and rural areas Cristen Hemingway Jaynes EcoWatch The Biden administration has announced that the United States Department of Energy (DOE) will provide $366 million in funding for 17 renewable energy projects in remote and rural areas of the country to alleviate high energy bills and improve reliability. The funding supports the administration’s target of directing 40 percent of climate-related investment benefits to communities that have been subjected to a disproportionate amount of pollution or are underserved, reported Reuters. “These projects overall are going to create more affordable, more reliable energy sources, they will lower families’ energy bills, and they’ll create good paying jobs in their communities,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm told reporters, as Reuters reported. As part of the administration’s Investing in American Agenda, the funds will support clean energy projects in 30 Tribal communities and nations and 20 states, a press release from the DOE said. How does ‘Energy Transition’ impact the overall Workforce? By 2030, it is anticipated that the energy transition will create 14 million jobs in the energy supply industry and an additional 16 million jobs in the clean energy sector, such as efficiency, automotive, and construction, for a combined total of 30 million jobs for people across the globe.1 Within the NetZero scenario, there is an anticipated loss of 5 million jobs in the fossil fuel industry by 2030; however, the loss is more than compensated for by new job opportunities. The projections are set on a global scale and, while promising, may present challenges for regions that are dense with extraction, refinement, and generation workers. The IRA is projected to create up to 9 million new jobs, which will be dispersed across the country, including in places dependent on fossil fuel production. The IRA operates by enhancing support from the private sector to drive investment into disadvantaged communities to create a cycle of innovation. The creation of 30 million new jobs worldwide due to these changes by 2030 is expected to alter the labor market for decades. The risk of unemployment decreases through effective upskilling and reskilling of current energy employees. We don’t need coal, but we still need miners. We don’t need fracking, but we still need people to drill deep geothermal wells. Want Green Energy? Then you need more mining, much more mining Clean Energy Job Creation and Growth There are just over 8 million jobs in renewable energy today. In 2021 and 2022, energy jobs grew faster than overall U.S. employment. The United States needs millions of good-paying union jobs to manufacture and deploy batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels, energy-efficient appliances, biorefineries, and more. DOE is at the forefront of scaling up technologies that will put Americans to work in quality jobs in construction, skilled trades, and engineering—building new infrastructure and a clean energy economy, while supporting workers affected by the energy transition. Which is why Texas Gov. Goodhair (Rick Perry) wanted to shut it down. Clean Energy Jobs Are Booming, Making Up For Rising Fossil Fuel Unemployment Renewables Jobs Nearly Doubled in Past Decade, Soared to 13.7 Million in 2022 Worldwide. DOE Releases Efficiency Standards for Washers and Dryers The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced two Congressionally-mandated energy-efficiency actions that will save American households $2.2 billion per year on their utility bills, while significantly cutting energy waste and harmful carbon pollution Today’s actions are part of a suite of energy efficiency standards advanced by the Biden-Harris Administration this term that DOE projects will together provide nearly $1 trillion in consumer savings over 30 years and save the average family at least $100 a year U.S. Secretary of Energy “For decades, DOE’s appliance standards actions for clothes washers and dryers have provided loads of savings” “DOE will continue to roll out innovative appliance solutions throughout 2024 to lower costs for the American people—continuing the cycle of household savings” x Los Angeles voted 12-0 to ban new drilling and to close all 5,000 existing oil and gas wells in the city. This is a historic victory by @STAND_LA and all citizens over the oil industry and environmental racism. IT CAN BE DONE! Who's next?#ActOnClimate #climate pic.twitter.com/3iUF41TJql — Mike Hudema (@MikeHudema) March 2, 2024 This Colorado community is already living in the all-electric future In the Geos neighborhood, heat pumps, solar and energy efficiency abound. The net-zero community offers a glimpse into what a decarbonized home can look like. Texas will add more grid batteries than any other state in 2024 With cheap land and a competitive market irresistible to energy storage developers, the Lone Star State will even overtake California in battery deployments this year. Heat pumps outsold gas furnaces again last year — and the gap is growing While sales of both heat pumps and gas furnaces were down in 2023 , heat pumps are proving more popular than ever. x BREAKING: Equinor's 810MW Empire Wind 1 and Orsted's 924MW Sunrise Wind projects have received provisional contracts in New York’s fourth offshore wind solicitation https://t.co/R7hyOmF0Ng pic.twitter.com/6wPm049tuN — reNEWS (@reNEWS_) February 29, 2024 renewable_energy_club on Threads Threads Wow! Spain’s electricity is almost free right now due to record high outputs of wind and solar energy 🎉Spain’s clean energy output is so high they are greening France’s grid by exporting excess electricity, at dirt cheap prices too: Spain’s electricity: $5.20 per MWh France’s electricity: $68.86 per MWh Spain’s record high of renewables output is expected to continue into March! Bloomberg: Spanish Power Is Almost Free With Renewables Set for Record Prices in Spain are near €2/MWh, compared with €67 in France Strong solar and wind generation is expected to continue Low-income communities will soon get $7 billion for local solar Per a new analysis of 35 proposed state programs, the historic climate-law funding would benefit more than 700 , 000 low-income households. 33 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, is the first to show how applicants plan to use the funds to advance energy equity. CESA’s [ Clean Energy States Alliance ] new report, which analyzes Solar for All applications fromstates, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, is the first to show how applicants plan to use the funds to advance energy equity. EVs For owners of Ford EVs, travel potentially got a bit easier yesterday, Feb. 29, as they now have access to 15,000 Superchargers across the U.S. (and maybe Canada; don’t know about that for sure). Ford is mailing adapter plugs to owners of Mach-E and F-150 Lightnings for free upon request, if the request is made prior to July 1. Better still, the chargers will respond to Ford’s own software app, dodging the need to ID a credit card for the purchase. This access improvement is a big deal for Ford, with GM, Volvo, Rivian, and Polestar soon to follow, possibly as early as this month. So if range anxiety and charging access really are the barriers slowing down U.S. EV adoption, this improved access to charging may accelerate matters for the better. Here’s hoping. Almost all OEMs will begin producing cars in 2025 with North American Charging Standard (NACS) plugs, which should improve access even more. Chart: Gas-powered cars are losing market share to EVs and hybrids Electric vehicle sales hit record heights last year. Sales of hybrids also soared. The trend is eating away at the market share of conventional cars. Last year, traditional internal-combustion vehicles accounted for 84 percent of total passenger vehicle sales in the U.S. — their lowest-ever share of sales. Meanwhile, sales of fully electric vehicles and hybrids are climbing to new heights. On Daily Kos Weekly Spotlight on Climate & Eco-diaries (3/3/24). If you missed some, you can find them here. by Meteor Blades. Closing Music [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/3/5/2226491/-Renewable-Tuesday-The-Renewable-Transition-for-Workers?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/