President Trump signed an executive order today to dismantle the clean power plan.
The Clean Power Plan is a policy Obama passed in 2015 to reduce pollution from power plants, the largest source of carbon dioxide pollution. It aims to reduce carbon emissions from coal-burning power plants by 32% by 2030. The plan requires states to use low-emission fuel sources to meet standards.
We have not quite covered energy topic yet but to summarize –
i) Coal industry hasn’t been a major source of employment for a long time. According to Energy Department analysis coal mining now accounts for fewer than 75,000 U.S. jobs.
ii) By contrast, renewable energy now accounts for more than 650,000 U.S. jobs.
Here is a scientific article on this executive order.
Bloomberg article
Based on what you know about climate change from this course and given this information, do you think this order might bring coal jobs back? Do you think the economy will benefit from this executive order or do you think the environmental costs of the additional unchecked pollution and increase in carbon dioxide concentration will outweigh the economic benefits? Do you think the US will be energy independent as a result of this type of executive order?
Physical World 
Unfortunately, given the facts from the articles, there are still too many questions to be answered in order to foresee whether eliminating the Clean Power Plan will rejuvenate enough jobs in the coal industry or lowering the average Americans’ electric bill.
At face value, I am, of course, in favor of creating jobs when possible and lowering my bills. However, my concern with eliminating the Clean Power Plan is whether the increase in the oil industry would cause the climate changes to occur more rapidly with the emission of the increased fossil fuels.
Although our electric bills may be lower (which cannot even be proven at this time given the contradictory studies), there may be increased costs down the road with regard to health bills as we cannot predict what the increased fossil fuels in our air will do to us. Also, speaking as a mother, it does occur to me that if the fossil fuels emission gets too bad, our children will have to make drastic, quick changes in order to reduce the emissions which would most likely be very costly.
I think Americans, such as myself, are doing our parts with reducing our energy by using solar panels on their homes. However, I cannot imagine the US every being energy independent, whether as a result of this type of executive order or not.
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There are a number of unknowns when it comes to this issue. However, I do not think that people will benefit from President Trump’s executive order. According to Scientificamerican.com NERA found that the Clean Power Plan could cause double-digit electricity price increases in many states. This is concerning and puts our economy at risk.
I do not think that Coal Jobs will be brought back. The Clean Power Plan’s mission is to regulate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from industry. Therefore, I believe that employment will reduce because of the shrinking industry sector. Although jobs are decreasing in the industry sector, they could spike in the solar sector, wind sector, and energy efficient sector.
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I think that they should bring back coal jobs because the US needs as many jobs as possible. I know that there issues with peoples heath back when there were coal jobs leading us to end that too many lawsuits from workers. But I feel with the type of technology we have today that we could create a good mask for them to be safe in.
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Based on my new found knowledge about climate change from this course and the given information, I do not think this order will bring coal jobs back. The reason being is I believe we Americans believe that we are too job for those jobs and we’ll look at coal jobs as beneath us. I think the environmental costs of the additional unchecked pollution and increase in carbon dioxide concentration will outweigh the economic benefits. I don’t care if the country benefits economically if we literally are polluting our country for economic and capital gain, I think it is stupid for us to do honestly. I do not think the US will be energy independent as a result of this executive order, I think our president will make us become dependent on one source of energy and it will kill our energy resources.
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Trump does not believe that global warming is a thing so him undoing the Clean Power Plan put in place by Obama makes sense. However, I do not believe that this order will bring coal jobs back. To start off with many mines now use heavy machinery and don’t need the amount of bodies working in the mine that they once did. I also believe that some plants will continue on the path that they are already on to use more renewable resources and to find a cleaner source of energy, because to many living a healthy life is important. While people could gain jobs from this and benefit the economy, I think that they renewable energy market has taken care of that, as it supplies over 650,000 jobs for people in the US. They job supplied by the coal industry would not be worth the damage that the unchecked pollution and increase in CO2 will cause. I think that is up to the US as individuals to continue on the path Obama wanted, rather than taking Trump’s easy way out, simply because this planet can only take so much and we are already pushing it past its limits to a point we may never be able to turn around from.
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I believe based on what I know about climate change from this course and given this information, coal jobs will not come back with this order. I believe that the negative effects of coal mining outweigh any possible positive effects. Coal mining would produce a very minimal amount jobs in the grand scheme of employment at the cost of putting people at risk of disease and death from emissions. Many people were effected by black lung disease, but it was not until the 1950s that the disease was understood. The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 was put in place by Congress to reduce dust, and create the Black Lung Disability Trust. The mining companies agreed to a clause that after 10 years of mining, if severe lung damage was found the workers would get compensation. The Trust was financed by a federal tax on coal, and by 2009 $44 billion had been distributed to miners and their widows. The economy will be losing money by bringing back coal mining jobs because of the environmental costs and increase in carbon dioxide concentration. The EPA requirements for building a new power plant would result in severely expensive production. Coal energy is not as efficient or clean as renewables. The coal industry being brought back will only add to global warming instead of cutting down on CO 2 emissions. The demand for coal is just going to continue to decrease with the rise of technology and environmentally conscience people. The Clean Power Plan could have been beneficial in lowering public health care costs, avoiding infrastructure expense, and avoiding unwanted costs from extreme weather events. I think that the United States does not have the resources in the surplus supply that it needs to be energy independent. This executive order does not take into account that the modern industries are wanting to progress forward with natural gases, rather than regressing backwards to the coal mining age.
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I do believe that this order will bring coal jobs back. I do think that the economy will benefit from this executive order. I also think that the environmental costs of the additional unchecked pollution and the increase in carbon dioxide concentration will outweigh the economic benefits. At the same time, the US being independent with energy resources is huge. This is a very controversial topic and it’s easy to see why.
The United States needs to be free from debt to other countries and being able to support ourselves would be an incredible thing. But at what cost? We need to think of the future and our future generations. While this might bring in jobs and more independence to the US, it’s going to be harmful for the Earth in the long run. If it were up to me, I would not have passed this order.
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Coal is an energy source that produces lots of emissions into the environment. I think that with this plan we may see a slight re-surfacing of coal powered plants and coal jobs; however, I don’t think it will be drastic. I think that with the environmentalist today and with the Clean Power Plan the larger plants have begun to, or already have changed their ways to be more environmentally friendly and produce less emissions. Even if the Clean Power Plan was revoked I think going back to coal would be like going into the past and we have so much more technology now that is better for the environment. That said, I think that the cost to the environment will outweigh the economic benefits. I think that with this type of an executive order from President Trump the people are not going to be happy. Reducing emissions and making a cleaner environment has large importance today in preserving our earth for future generations. I think that the US may start to adapt new ways of energy in order to eliminate the central power. They may become energy independent.
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Coal has never been a major employment area. With the clean coal plan now over I do think that their will be more jobs created but not enough for permanent job growth in the area. Coal is on the rise in America and with less regulation now there will more investment towards that energy resources. The environmental costs of this order are not worth the increase in coal energy. I do not think that the US will be energy independent from this executive order. It is disappointing that now the increase in pollution and carbon dioxide will not be stopped. The look over could cause huge problems in the future. Our money should be invested in green energy that does not put so much pollution out in to the world like wind, solar, or hydropower. All three have less of a cost on the environment and create more jobs in the job market. We are a top user of energy in the world and would need to create a lot more energy in order to be energy independent.
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While the executive order may not further decrease coal mining jobs, I do not believe it will bring additional coal mining jobs to the economy either. I believe the environmental costs of increased pollution and carbon dioxide concentration will outweigh the economic benefits. Additionally, since the plan was designed to lower carbon dioxide emissions, while increasing the use of renewable energy, we are taking a step back. Since the Clean Power Plan was aimed at combating global warming, and has since been overturned by President Trump, I do not believe the United States will be energy independent as a result of the executive order.
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Trump would need to change a lot more then just dismantle the clean power act to bring back a high usage of coal. The U.S has already made substantial gains in the clean power industry. The price reduction of the installation and equipment required has enabled even the average homeowner to contribute to clean energy. While Trump may be making decisions based on who had given him support during his election he cannot turn back time. The technology will continue to get better and clean energy will be what the people are getting behind. Coal while antiquated and dirty is abundant but will not generate new employment.
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I do not think that this order will bring coal jobs back. I think that the pollution and the amount of carbon dioxide that will enter the environment is not worth bringing these jobs back either. I think that it’s important to decrease our carbon footprint and this is one way that we can do this. I think that we should invest our money in some type of green energy where we won’t be polluting the environment since we do have the resources available to do so.
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Getting rid of the Clean Power Plan will not bring back as many U.S. jobs as would be needed to benefit from the pollution. A 32% cut in pollution over the course of 15 years is a drastic and beneficial plan that keeps the future in mind. Focusing on jobs is a plan for the near future and keeping Americans stable and out of poverty. I think that this plan was beneficial in cutting down pollution and the job market for coal is not big enough to outweigh the pollution. Like stated above, there are so many more jobs in renewable energy, so why bring back a finite market when you have infinite power source?
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President Trump’s decision to want to take back the Clean Power Plan can be detrimental to the future of our environment and not as helpful to the economy as he may think. The renewable energy industry has boomed in the past years and continues to grow at a steady rate. With these increasing rates of clean energy use, jobs in this sector are also increasing with them. Bringing back coal energy is only going to hurt the environment in the long run and bring back all of the costs that Obama was saving to begin with such as cost of healthcare and energy bill costs per home. Not to mention that if we bring back coal to a great extent and more fossil fuels are being released at extensive levels, we could be at risk for future potential extreme weather events that will cost us even more.
Believing that revoking this plan would spike jobs in the coal industry is unrealistic with the decreasing demand for coal and technologically improving era. Jobs are no longer high in demand for the coal industry and the jobs gained would not be a greater benefit that outweighs the significant negative impacts of environment and economy that this will cause. Furthermore, people really have to think about the future availability of coal. There isn’t just a never-ending source of coal, it is a finite energy source. Once it’s used up (which would unsurprisingly be sooner rather than later if it is brought back and used at excessive rates), there will be even less jobs and no source at all. I believe that we cannot be dependent on one source of energy, however increasing the use of coal as energy is not in the best interest of not only the U.S. but the world as a whole and renewable, cleaner energy sources should be used as much as possible and fossil fuels should be used minimally.
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In my opinion, this order could be good for coal workers of West Virginia and Wyoming, which are two of the states in America who have the most mining jobs. But, overall this order is terrible for the United States. Yes, it might create a handful of jobs but the United States, economically speaking, has more interest in growing its alternative energy sector. Again, states such as West Virginia will benefit from it but other states like California or Florida, it will not matter for them. Certain states will increase their investments in the mining industry most likely, but not enough state will do it which will not necessarily impact the United States. Since the United States exports about 7% of its mining coals, I do not think the economic benefits will be outweighed. This order’s goal in my mind is to create capital for corporations who own the mining fields to invest in new forms of energy since coal is a finite resource. Overall, on the short term, this order is good for the American economy but President Trump needs to plan for the long term by investing much more in alternative energy in order for the United States to be fully energy independent for the future generations of this country.
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Ultimately I think the US will greatly suffer from the dismantling of this plan. Clean, renewable energy is the way of the future, period. We have seen from centuries of burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil that they are extremely dirty forms of energy, making the atmosphere and water supplies more acidic, increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the water, land and atmosphere, and contributing significantly the overall rise in global temperature. It seems clear to me, spend money to make money. The more we invest in clean energy now, the less expensive energy becomes in the future and the less we need to contribute to the adverse effects of extra pollution. As far as bringing back coal mining jobs, who’s to say? Although now that we know the associated health risks as well as potential for bodily harm on the job, I can’t imagine too many people will be running back to the coal mines to earn a living.
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I do believe this order will bring back coal jobs to American citizens. However, I do not believe that the amount of coal jobs that will be brought back will amount to the 650,000 jobs that were brought by renewable energy. The coal industry has not been a huge contributor for years when it comes to jobs. For someone who does not believe in global warming, like President Trump, the attempt to bring back the coal industry makes sense. The coal industry is very dangerous, but it has been proven to work in the past. The only problem with bringing back the coal industry besides the environmental issues, is that most power plants are turing to natural gas instead of using coal for fuel. Another problem with bringing back the coal industry is that medical technology has advanced and it is now known the problems that come with mining.
I do not believe that the economy will benefit from this order only because power plants are changing the way they fuel with natural gas and other forms of renewable energy. Just because this order allows coal to be used again, does not mean that plants will have to change the way they have been getting fuel the past few years. I believe that this order will make the U.S. energy independent.
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Based on the new gained knowledge from this course i do not think coal jobs will be coming back to the U.S for a multitude of reasons. First, the economy right now is growing and people are investing in greener energy sources and coal could be seen as the cheaper way out. If we were to hit a small recession in the economy and we were no longer able to afford the expensive energy sources then we could potentially bring back coal jobs. I do think we could benefit from this order because it gives us a fall back plan. This could make us more dependent on other countries for this resource and could cause potential conflicts of interest.
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This is a mistake to dismantle the Clean Power Plan. No one knows whether Global warming would be a problem now if we act 50 years ago with the information that we know now. Jobs are important, and I get that it may benefit the unemployed, but it shouldn’t outweigh the importance of minimizing of carbon admissions. Coal hasn’t been a major draw for job since trains were invented, so it a stupid to do away with the Clean Power Plan. Further more, there will not be a big increase in coal mining because that type of power is outdated and will soon be forever part of history. Clean and renewable energy is the future and do fight against it is bone headed.
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The United States is in a time of desperation when it comes to jobs. Coal mining is one way to bring those jobs back. Many people back in the 1900’s dies from health issues from coal mining. Today is a lot different then back then. There are precautionary measures that can be taken in order to prevent that danger. Essentially, after reading, it think the environmental costs of increased pollution and carbon dioxide concentration will overpower the economic benefits. Because the plan was designed to lower carbon dioxide emissions, while increasing the use of renewable energy, we are making a mistake.
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I do think this order will bring jobs back, because those companies that had to be shut down or stop working because of the Clean Coal Plan, will want to reopen their businesses. If some of those businesses converted to a more clean energy way of working then they may not want to switch back, but I think it really comes down to the money and morals for those business owners, if they want to help save the environment or if they want to do whatever it takes to make money easier. And I think that sadly the economy will benefit, only if more jobs are made available, but at the cost of the environment. I don’t think that the economic benefits outweigh the environmental damage that will occur. On that note, because the Clean Coal Plan was dismantled, it will be hard for the U.S. to become energy independent. With businesses now allowed to use coal as an energy supply again, some people don’t believe in the climate change happening and will continue using coal because of that. Some people won’t see the damage being done and they won’t want to change if they don’t legally have to anymore.
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Yes, I think that we should be bringing the Coal Jobs back. Not only is this a way to increase the work, but this is good fuel that we need. Many people do not believe in the “global warming” however, there are many things that factor into our climate change. Its time for us to step out of the box and go back to some things that we know work. They always say history repeats itself, now is a time we need to repeat with the old and take some new technology to protect our workers. We have new an improved ways to work, masks and equipment that could make the coal work a lot easier and simpler and help not only the environment but the economy.
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Based on the blog post, linked article, and linked video, my personal opinion is Trump signing that executive order is pure theater. Coal is in decline and will continue to be, it was ‘feel good’ legislation that promoted an image and secured a voter base. It might save a few jobs and keep a few plants open a little longer, but in the end, I do believe coal will continue to be phased out in favor of cheaper and greener methods of power generation. There’s also the court of public opinion and right now US citizens seem to be very much in favor of green energy.
I’ll give an analogy, I visited a factory years ago, it was nearly a fully automated factory and an impressive sight! We rounded a corner and there was a guy, sitting on a stool. Strapped to each of his wrists were bungee style cords. He’d reach over with his right hand, grab a widget from a barrel to his right, place it in the machine, then raise his hands over his head (releasing the tension in the cords so the machine would operate), and hit a foot pedal. The machine would crash down on the widget, then he’d take the transformed piece of metal with his left hand and deposit it into a bucket to his left.
I asked our tour guide why that particular job wasn’t automated like the rest of the factory? He said they actually had the machine ready to go that would automate that job, but that they were waiting until that particular worker retired, they didn’t want to displace his job before he was ready to retire.
I suppose that’s a long way around the barn, but that’s how I feel about coal power. Let’s let the workers currently in the industry leave voluntarily or retire as that chapter in our power consumption closes.
I’ll close with a quote from the linked article:
“No power company in the country is looking to invest in a new coal plant.”
-chris
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Based on the information from this course and article, I do not believe that coal jobs will come back with this order. This is because the negative effects of bringing back coal mining jobs outweigh the positives of it. The first reason is that bringing back coal mining will negatively affect global warming. Coal is not a clean or renewable resource which means it is not good for the environment to burn it. The demand for coal is also decreasing with advances in technology and the fight for environmental stability. While there is an argument that coal mining would create jobs, the number of jobs would be minimal. Additionally, the workers would be at risk of death and disease, such as Black Lung, from working in the hazardous conditions. This order does not takin into consideration the changes that are happening in today’s world. Many industries today would much rather use renewable energy or natural gas in order to do their part to help the environment. There would also be considerable backlash from people concerned about the state of the environment. In all, this order would take a step backward in time rather than helping us to move forward.
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Based on the information from this course and the articles provided, I do not believe that the coal jobs are going to come back if President Trump repeals this act. There are various negative consequences that would come along with bringing coal mining back. First, the people who are working in the mines are going to become sick if they were to go and work in these jobs. The illnesses that they could develop could cause death. People are not going to want to work in these types of conditions and risk their life. Even if jobs are created they might sit there empty. Second, the number of jobs that this would create would be much less than if we were to continue to grow in using renewable energy. Third, coal mining is something of the past. The technology that we have developed and continue to develop is assisting us to grow in renewable energy. People have invested time in renewable energy to help us for the future so, why would we want to stop this. Lastly coal is going to cause immense amounts of pollution. It must burn, and this is going to cause pollution in the air. The pollution that is in the air is going to contribute to climate change. The slight economic benefit that might occur will not outweigh the damage that will happen to the environment. I think it will be very difficult for the United States to become energy independent. However, an act like this might make them a step closer to doing that.
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After reading over the blog post and the attached links, I believe that Trump is putting on a show to get more United States voters and citizens on his side. Therefor, I do not believe that this order will bring coal jobs back. The United States, as well as the rest of the world, is now starting to somewhat recognize how badly humans are harming the environment. Coal has been one of the main energy sources in the past years, but now there have been technological advances in creating other sources of energy that are more efficient and effective. I do not think the economy will benefit from this order because the environment is going to outweigh the economy. Coal has been on the decline for a while now and I don’t think that is going to change. Sure, there might be a couple hundred or thousand jobs that reappear in this industry, but I do not believe that we will ever see any substantial changes. Especially with how environmentally conscious the upcoming generations are, which make up a substantial amount of the voters in the United States. I also know that the amount of young individuals working at coal plants is very little, so it seems it is catering to individuals who are looking to retire soon, wouldn’t it be easier to take care of their retirement rather than opening coal mines for them? Helping the people who lost their coal mining jobs, while still taking care of the environment. The global climate change is something of great concern that people are taking action towards solving, coal would be moving in the wrong direction. We have created multiple stronger sources of energy in the previous years, so why would we move backwards as a nation for something like this?
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Based on the general rule of supply and demand, I do believe that jobs will created from the “Death” of the Clean Power Plan. There is no doubt that with looser regulations, companies will be able to up production causing a need for more jobs. With that being said, I believe the economic impacts of this will be minimal at best. There is undeniable evidence that drilling for gas is the way of the future, and I believe the negative environmental impacts heavily outweigh the number of jobs will be created from decreased regulations.
There is no debate about the consequences that arise from the harvesting of fossil fuels. Science has proven time and time again that the drilling of fossil fuels has impacted both the air and water supply from pollution and accidents. I think these forms of pollution will be detrimental not only to our health but also the health of animals living in affected areas. There can also be an argument that the death of the Clean Power Plan will just as negatively impact areas of our economy that rely on air and water supply such as agriculture. In all, I would have to say that destroying the Clean Power Plan would add a few coal jobs here and there, but the many economic and environmental consequences outweigh the benefits.
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According to the study by NERA, they found that meeting the Paris climate pledge, would eliminate up to 440,000 jobs by 2025. By taking away the coal jobs, we are not going to have gas that we need to fuel machines that we use every single day. No one would want to switch their cars to be electric, when it is going to cost us the same amount, if we buy a car that takes gas. No matter what we do coal is going to play a role in our everyday life. I do not think the economy will benefit from the executive order, because no matter what we get rid of we need to find a back up and the back up might be more expensive than what we just got rid of. We are already energy dependent, I do not think the executive order is going to change the fact, that we need gas to run vehicles to get us back and forth to our jobs, and an electric vehicle cost the same, why would I change what I am driving, because someone is telling me that coal is too expensive to keep going. I do get that if we all drove electric cars that the air pollution would change but switching to a different option is going to cost us more money. We should keep the coal till we have a better back up plan.
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Based on the information gathered from the course and outside research, I do not believe this executive order will be enough to bring significant coal jobs back. Many environmentalists are pushing for coal plants to be phased out by 2030, regardless of the executive order. The industry itself it also turning to cheaper, cleaner alternatives such as solar and wind. Since 2010, around 236 plants have been shut down or announced a retirement date. From this information and research done, I highly doubt coal jobs would return. I do not think the repeal of the Clean Power Plan will yield significant benefits. The environmental costs of using fossil fuels such as oil and the emissions released into the air will, in the long run, outweigh any possible (yet improbable) economic value. I do not believe this executive order will help the US be energy independent. The country simply isn’t ready for that, and would need to be independent on different levels, such as debt to other countries, and reliance on outsourcing.
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I really believe that this action will bring back coal jobs to the American Citizens. The coal industry has its pros and cons. The pros are that it will be a lower bill for us Americans when the electric bill comes around. The cons are that it is very dangerous but from studies shown it really does work, its proven to also have environmental issues which makes sense. Technology has improved tremendously over the years. President Trump needs to think about the long term not the short term. What will affect us down the road? That is what the thought process has to be. I do not see the United States being energy independent. Overall we have to think long term not short term.
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Based off of the new executive order that was passed, I do believe that this will bring jobs back into the coal industry. However, this will have an impact on the environment that I do not think outweighs the jobs being created. President Trump is not overly concerned about the environmental impact this will bring and is mainly foucsed on bringing jobs back into the country. You may applaud the efforts to bring back jobs within the United States but I fear that we are not paying enough attention to the environmental issues at hand and may only realize what we are doing when it is too late. This is a very controversial issue but believe that the President will do whatever they think is best for the country. Obama had his views as does Trump. Personally I would like to not see the coal come back and see our country do more to protect this planet. Over the course of the class we have seen time and time again just how much we are doing to kill the planet and the affects that have come with it. We see the rise in global temperature and the rising ocean levels. Enough is enough and I would like to see our country do more to protect this earth.
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Dismantling the Clean Power Plan may positively impact the economy by creating jobs, but given the degree of environmental social conscientiousness, I find it difficult to believe it will be to the degree prior. I don’t believe it will be as environmentally detrimental as people fear. At this point in time, there should be a balance struck to ensure we are not a country to become dependent on others.
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Based on what I have learned about climate change I don’t think that the executive order by Donald Trump would bring back coal jobs because there are a lot of issues that come with being a coal worker. There are numbers of health issue that we see in people that have previous worked as coal workers. Also I don’t think people would benefit from it, it would cost a lot more money in electricity and gas. It could put our economy at risk because of this increase. The clean power plan is to regulate and reduce greenhouse gases that have been destroying our country. Seen we are trying to reduce pollution from power plants I believe that employment for coal workers are going to decrease but in solar, wind energy’s are going to increase.
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I believe the President opened the door for the coal mining industry, I’m just not sure how many people want to walk back through that door. Coal mining is dangerous. Short term hazards include the coal gas explosions, walls collapsing and suffocation. Long term effects come from breathing in the chemicals and coal, usually leading to cancer or black lung. With renewable energy on the rise, I believe most employment seekers would lean towards the safer jobs. Installing solar panels or working on windmills is much less dangerous than going down into a mining a shaft.
As a nation, I feel like most citizens understand the need for renewable energy. Looking at the numbers alone, we can see that clean energy is increasing and coal mining is significantly decreasing. As time progresses, I believe the coal mining industry will eventually phase out and be replaced with more environmentally friendly options. I do not think the economy is going to benefit from the executive order because of where the industry is heading. Although the president signed this order, I feel like our nation is becoming smarter about climate change, and we will continue to do our part to help prevent unnecessary pollution, even though gates that allow for such practices has been open.
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Based on the information from this course, I can honestly say I do not believe that this order would bring back coal jobs. I believe it might raise the number from that of the information given (75,000). This is because the idea behind coal energy would be as widely shunned for its environmental impact due to the death of the clean power plan. Obama was working on moving America to a cleaner method of energy. In doing so, he was able to create a multitude of jobs available in the country (650, 000). The difference in the number of workers demonstrates that America was putting more focus on clean energy compared to coil. Due to there being such a discrepancy in these numbers I cannot see a drastic change to happen. Beyond that, I would like to believe that people have the planet’s future in mind. The destruction of the plan demonstrated a negative step taken towards saving the planet. Although this was done by the most power person in America I would like to believe that the majority of the population is aware of the green house gazes emitted by getting this kind of energy.
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After reading, looking more into the information, and watching the video makes it a hard call on whether Trump’s dismantling of the clean power was a good choice. I personally do not think it was the best choice made. The coal industry has significantly went down over the years and I can’t see the incline to go back up along with people willing to work in the conditions. And even if the coal industry comes back we will end up polluting the air even more than before which is what we are trying to get rid of. I think if coal makes a comeback now there will be alot of environmental protests and more government division. However the Clean Power’s mission is to regulate and try to reduce the greenhouse gas industry. Although the jobs are very limited in the coal industry with more emphasis on the Clean Power plan I believe more jobs can be made in the different renewable parts of the company.
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Based on what I have learned about climate change I don’t think that the executive order by Donald Trump would bring back coal jobs because there are a lot of issues that come with being a coal worker. There are numbers of health issue that we see in people that have previous worked as coal workers. Also I don’t think people would benefit from it, it would cost a lot more money in electricity and gas. It could put our economy at risk because of this increase. The clean power plan is to regulate and reduce greenhouse gases that have been destroying our country. Since we are trying to reduce pollution from power plants I believe that employment for coal workers are going to decrease button solar and wind energy its going to increase
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I think this order won’t bring back coal jobs. They are not the future of energy, and they aren’t sustainable for the future. The renewables are the new wave, and those jobs will become obsolete as more and more people switch to renewables. The environmental costs will heavily outweigh the economical. In the long run, we will phase out the coal jobs, and the environment will be in turmoil over a decision we should have made years before.
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The United States leads the world in most things except we are lagging behind Iceland that has gone 100% green. To be clear, coal has been used extensively and was part of the industrial revolution and may continue to be so in the near future. However, knowing what we know today, it is imperative that we gradually wean ourselves from coal addiction. It is important to grab the future and leave coal behind. Even with the executive order, it is only a matter of time before coal mining dies a natural death. I do not see how the economy is going to benefit in the long term because burning coal is counterproductive to our environment. The scientific data supports the theory that global warming is a reality and I wish politicians would stop pandering to their bases. This reversal of the Obama era executive order was ill-advised, plain and simple. We are responsible for our own demise. We must ensure that the environment is clean for posterity’s sake. We must move away from dependence on Non-renewable sources of energy such as coal and oil. The United States has all the technological know-how to move fast to renewable sources of energy. Perhaps the United States will be energy independent as a result of the executive order but at a steep cost. The disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
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Based on what I have learned about climate change in this course, I don’t think this order will bring coal mining jobs back. According to an article by Tom DiChristopher and Jhon W. Schoen, it wouldn’t be an easy task for a president to reverse three decades of decline in coal mining jobs. More than 100,000 jobs in the coal mining industry have been eliminated over the past 30 years. This is due to the industry changing to automated machinery for better productivity and price affordability. Another cause of the declining of coal mining jobs in the U.S. is the increase of natural gas production and a decrease in cost for renewable energy projects. The coal mining industry recently had chosen to close down old systems that need upgrades to comply with new regulations limiting mercury and other toxic air pollutants. According to this article, since President Trump took office, only 2,000 jobs have been added to the coal mining sector, which employs about 53,000 people.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/23/trump-says-the-coal-industry-is-back-the-data-say-otherwise.html
I do not think that this order will benefit the economy given the fact that this is a declining industry. People in general are moving to a more modern way of living and there are a lot people who like to support an industry that supports a healthy environment. I think that in the long run the need to monitor and control unchecked pollution and increased carbon dioxide concentrations will outweigh any economic benefits.
I don’t think that the U.S. will be energy independent because of this executive order. According to research by Goldman Sachs, energy independence under Donald Trump has come to a stop. The president is pursuing a policy of energy dominance – he is selling natural gas and oil around the world, but it is impossible to say how long the oil boom will last or if the relationships with the various countries can be sustained.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/09/americas-rapid-march-to-energy-independence-has-slowed-under-trump.html
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I feel that from what i already understand and what i have learned from my current schooling course, i feel that coal jobs will not come back and be a significant part of the economy. Most people today do not want to work in this industry for a multitude of reasons. The main being that the cons such as it being very dangerous outweigh the pros it brings into play. Secondly, i feel the economy will not benefit much and that the tolls it would have on our environment would even hurt us more so. I feel we can not afford to keep allowing more unchecked pollution to happen. Lastly i feel the United States will not be energy independent from this because oil as a resource will start fading out and become obsolete once we usher in cleaners forms of energy.
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