At the Solyndra hearing today, as evidence that conventional energy is scared stiff of competition from wind and solar, Rep. Ed Markey said that coal mining employs just 85,000 people, while wind power employs 85,000, and solar 100,000.
This is an inapt and indeed inept comparison, as I explain here. How appropriate that such a misdirection should be employed at the Solyndra hearing.
Fast Eddie Markey was never known for his intellect. This is a guy who literally forgot where he lived once. He does, however, provide an awesome time warp feel to these things. I'm showing my age, I guess. I remember when the liberal uniform meant floppy hairdo, linen collars, horned rim glasses, fake Brahman accent. Today, they either look like hobos or the theater critic for the Hoboken Times.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHow many people could we employ if we got all our energy from exercise bikes wired up to generators? How many people could we employ if, instead of moving cargo by trucks and trains, we switched to rickshaws?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo, those 85,000 workers in the coal industry are producing how much energy, compared to the energy being produced by the combined efforts of 185,000 in wind and solar?
Please, help me out on this, Honorable Mr. Markey: which is the most efficient industry for energy production?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo, 85,000 taxpayer-subsidized jobs are superior to 85,000 jobs in the free market in what way?
And shouldn't that number include not just coal miners, but workers at coal-fired power plants, and workers who transport the coal to the plant, and the companies that build the equipment for the coal mines?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI remember reading that about half of the electricity in the nation is produced from coal. And about 2.5% is from renewables like wind and solar. If that is correct why would you hire 185,000 workers to produce 2.5% of the electricity when you could hire 85,000 workers to produce 50% of the electricity? That's using Markey's misleading numbers by the way. It would be like me hiring 3 or 4 bookkeepers and accountants to do my work instead of hiring 1 person with Quickbooks software to do the same thing. Is Markey as stupid as he sounds?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOla:
In answer to your closing question: Yes, I believe he is.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Moreover, when considering how much of the current boom in renewable energy is fueled by subsidies, it becomes clear that a large number of those wind industry jobs are temporary-engaged in the manufacture of parts for and construction of new wind farms."
The construction jobs are temporary, but it doesn't seem fair to classify manufacturing jobs as such. By that standard, coal-mining jobs are temporary -- sooner or later the mine will run out of coal and close.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI bet we could create even more jobs if we mandated that all power generation had to come from people riding exercise bikes that are hooked up to generators!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'd love to see megawatts of energy produced per person of coal compared to wind and solar. It would probably show astronomically greater productivity for coal. Jobs are created when genuine prosperity is created, and prosperity creation comes from productivity growth. It's really that simple, and all the woes in Europe, state and municipal budgets, the auto industry, etc. stem from failure to understand this essential axiom.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLol, and those "85,000" people produce, what?, 45% of all electricity in the United States compared to 3% for renewables, of which solar is one of the smallest contributors...but requires 100,000 "solar" employees!
Tell me this is not a Government operation!
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