Looks like some are just quitting (manufacturing jobs):
https://www.axios.com/manufacturing-workers-are-leaving-the-industry-willingly-2470638295.html
No, you didn’t “fix” anything. Some can’t move. Some can, but won’t. I didn’t say ALL of them can’t afford to move. Some can, but won’t. Some can afford to spend lots of money on opioids, but claim they can’t afford to move. And saying we CAN help SOME, doesn’t change the fact that we CAN’T help SOME.
Perhaps in fairness, they should have a series of paired seatings of questions (and seasonal veg.) such as (pair-side):
How about a job constantly putting you between nature’s ire and built environment that’s supposed to withstand it?
How about a job where you are the obsequious pariah for the oil industry, unfucking beaches, rebuilding waterways, stocking fish ceaselessly until monsoons abate, and pulling phosphate and nitrogen out of raging floods until forgiveness flows perceptibly and state and local governments grant your tax leniency?
Would you like to assert that the anti-oil industry is just the oil industry with the opportunity to be the bottom on top?
etc.
Come like a sequestration well. Please. <–recruitment copy? Just a safe space that kills? No?
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When ever there are large shifts in an economy, there are going to be repercussion. See Detroit for a bad example. It is why I didn’t move to the closer city of Wichita after college because I felt its economy was too closely tied to the aircraft industry.
I would dare say, if one were inclined to move to say North Dakota for an oil job, they could afford it. Cost of living is low and the jobs pay well. Of course, uprooting a family from its friends and family and home is not always doable.
Still, coal jobs are shrinking, mainly from automation. They will need retraining somewhere to something else at some point. But that is also a broader issue in America where we don’t have a good system to help people in the middle of their lives find a new career path if they one they are currently in dries up.
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If only there was some other sector of the energy economy where the need for workers was growing instead of shrinking.
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Working in tobacco farming in the modern context would cause me no ethical issues at all. Yeah, it’s a dangerous and addictive drug, but everybody knows that already. If folks wanna smoke, let 'em smoke.
OTOH, the only way I would consider involvement in the fossil fuel industries would be as a saboteur. Fucking psychopaths who are killing us all.
There will always be Mexican and Central American immigrants to take the jobs that Amer…
Oh fuck, never mind.
That’s a good idea too. I jut mentioned it because of the article. It would probably require retraining as well, though.
Sure, but if you’re going to need retrain workers anyway you might as well push them toward an industry that has a future and isn’t destroying our environment.
One of the many gripes I have with the modern-day GOP is that they are turning their backs on a great American success story, choosing instead to assure coal miners that they’ll get their jobs back in one of the most physically dangerous, debilitating and environmentally destructive industries of our age.
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True, if you approach it from “What do we do with former coal miners?”
I was approaching it from, “Where to get oil workers?”
Coal miners would need some retraining, but are used to dirty conditions and large machines. Fun perk - less black lung.
Yes, I agree that the lies and blame for the state of coal mining jobs is helping no one.
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I think it’s the other way around. These companies exist because we buy cars that use gasoline. We can’t depend on Trump to legislate this away. Sadly, it’s up to us to make an inconvenient choice. Once the demand goes down for oil, they’ll stop producing it.
You can get a used Nissan Leaf for 12000US. And you’d make back most of that expense from what you save in gas,
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I don’t want a Nissan Leaf. I can’t afford a $12000 car. I am also worried about the upkeep and repair expense compared to a cheap domestic or like a regular Hyundai or Honda. There also isn’t a proper network for charging in my area. Which also is linked to green houses gases. Leafs don’t get their energy from fairies.
At some point something like that will be more economically viable for me. There needs to be waaay more options and ease of use with broader support networks for it to replace gas powered cars, though hybrids will be catching on more and more. Making them cleaner burning is something one can work towards in the mean time.
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Of course you’re right that it’s inconvenient, but it’s worth it if we want to make a difference.
If you don’t have a lot of money, public transportation works too. I don’t own a car. I ride a bicycle or take public transit. Imagine you lost your license, you’d continue to live, and you’d find another (greener) way to get around.
It’s true, electric cars don’t get energy from fairies, but it’s unlikely that it’s generated from coal, gasoline, or burning tires. Most electricity comes from nuclear, some is hydro, and in the coming years we’ll see more renewables. Much cleaner than burning any form of fossil fuels.
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Funny you should mention Detroit…
I know that was most likely accidental. It’s still kinda funny. Or not really funny, when you consider our economy is still struggling, and any wobble in the auto industry hits us hard. I do think things are starting to get better, though time will tell whether that upswing will last.
I agree, we need a good job training/career building system. And not just for the kids in school, but for everyone, since you can never be sure how long a job (let alone a career) will last these days. In some states I believe there’s job placement assistance through their Unemployment offices, though I don’t know how well it works.
Edited to add: I mention the job placement assistance because I’m thinking of trying it out. I’d love a new career, but I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.
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At this point, where I live, I don’t think it is a viable option. As the tech gets better, cheaper, and more widely available, it should be. I live where Urban sprawl makes me have at least a 30 min commute. I would move closer to work, if I could afford it, but then I would be 30 min from my kid.
In college I rode my bike everywhere when my paths to school, work, and home were much shorter.
Not in the US. Coal jobs are going away from automation. Coal plants are still around but slowly phased out. I am not sure how good this chart is at predicting the future, but Coal will be around, so will Natural Gas, though it is fairly clean burning. Renewables will grow and things will change.
LOL - no I had no idea. But yes, Detroit really was a victim of too much change to quick.
Yes, I agree. Especially as job needs shift. And it will get worse as automation becomes a thing. Until we automate enough we don’t have to work.
I’d sincerely be interested in how that works. I’ve been thinking the same thing, ha.
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I always get irritated at companies complaining about not being able to find workers in America. The defining fact of jobs for my life (Gen X) is a labor surplus. When a company complains about not being able to find workers, they mean that it costs more than they believe they should pay. If they are willing to train people, or consider people over 50, or perhaps risk taking someone with a compatible skillset rather than the exact perfect skillset, these problems could be solved. But all of these strategies have risk, and risk eventually means spending more. Companies are unwilling to do that. It’s not that they can’t find people. It’s that they regard every cost as an evil to avoid. Grrrrr. /soapbox
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I’m in Canada and was going by our sources of electricity:
That said, even in the US you have the option to pay more on your bill for clean energy, or buy clean energy certificates.
Even paying for green energy, it’s still much, much cheaper to fuel an electric car.
We’re at the point where we must make a sacrifice: we can sacrifice our children’s quality of life, so we can keep emitting carcinogenic, climate changing fumes, or we make a painful change right now.
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I’m reminded of how in DOOM, the UAC honcho is lauding the benefits of refining Hell energy, while neglecting to mention all the pesky demons that keep popping up.
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You guys are all lakes and mountains, so lots of hydro 
Didn’t realize your nuclear was so high.
