[GWSG] US renewable energy jobs up; China's, too; Trump moving backward, Pruitt misleading; family planning for climate; Trump's idea

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Patrick Parenteau sends items one through three on energy employment.  The United States has seen explosive growth in renewable energy jobs over the past three years, led by solar jobs (up 82 percent) and wind jobs (up 100 percent), according to new numbers released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).  http://www.irena.org/DocumentDownloads/Publications/IRENA_RE_Jobs_Annual_Review_2017.pdf

In 2016, solar was creating U.S. jobs at 17 times the rate of the national economy, rising to more than 260,000 jobs in the U.S. solar industry today. In the U.S. wind industry, now with over 100,000 jobs, a new wind turbine went up every 2.4 hours this past quarter.  https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03052017/wind-power-rising-clean-energy-jobs



2.  China remains the world leader in clean energy employment by far with nearly 4 million jobs, including hydropower* (including some ecological disasters it must be said). China's National Energy Administration has projected renewables growth of 2.6 million jobs a year between 2016 and 2020 with a massive investment plan for renewable power generation. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-energy-renewables-idUSKBN14P06P



3.  Meanwhile, the Trump administration is proposing deep cuts to U.S. investment in clean energy innovation in its 2018 budget. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/23052017/budget-donald-trump-scott-pruitt-climate-change-science-funding-epa-usda-nasa

And Pruitt is falsely claiming Trump has created 50,000 new "coal jobs"-- a claim that earned him four Pinocchios from the WP.   https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/06/06/pruitts-claim-that-almost-50000-jobs-have-been-gained-in-coal/?utm_term=.1ca2981aae66&wpisrc=nl_politics&wpmm=1



4.  In addition to controlling emissions, should we promote smaller families as a means of combating climate change?  Two ethicists discuss the issues.  Iran provides an example of a successful program promoting family planning to ease the pressure on resources.  It is estimated that, for an American, having a child increases your lifetime carbon footprint six-fold.   http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/31/is-it-ethical-to-have-children-climate-change-family-planning/



5.  Trump has a thought: cover the border wall with solar panels.  https://www.axios.com/trump-pitched-republican-leaders-on-a-solar-paneled-border-wall-2435037888.html

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