Workers lose out in the president’s climate change plan
Democrats like to brand themselves as the party of the working class. They may have been true at one time — but today’s party is all about the agenda, especially when it comes to climate change.
President Joe Biden follows the new green script by touting a shift to renewable energy and electric vehicles. He wants 100% renewable energy in the power sector by 2035. Jobs in the fossil fuel sector would be on the chopping block, but Biden has assured America that there will lots of good jobs at good wages in green energy.
Did anyone in his administration run the numbers?
According to data obtained by Politico, there’s a big wage gap between fossil fuel and green energy jobs, and fossil fuel wins.
Workers employed by solar and wind power companies earn significantly less than those who mine coal or drill for natural gas, according to data compiled by former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz’s clean energy think tank. The median wage for solar workers is $24.48 an hour compared with $30.33 for those employed by the natural gas sector, which amounts to a roughly $12,000 annual wage gap.
That’s quite a salary drop for a family to absorb.
Energy workers on the whole earn more than the typical American, but the highest-paying positions are skewed heavily toward nuclear, utility and natural gas and coal industry workers, the new data show. The wind, solar and construction jobs that would surge under Biden’s policies were well below them on the median pay scale.
“The big message is that the energy industry has a significantly higher median wage than does the economy as a whole. That’s very important,” Moniz, who led the Energy Department during former President Barack Obama’s second term, told Politico.
The last thing workers need is the threat of impending job loss, followed by wage loss should they find new employment, hanging over them like the sword of Damocles.
Moniz suggested that fossil fuel workers will often be able to find new jobs without relocating — echoing current Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who has advocated for “place-based” solutions to the loss of fossil fuel jobs. Granholm has also said Biden’s plan would focus on creating manufacturing jobs to develop supply chains for wind, solar and new battery production in the United States, rather than relying on imports.
“The really important message for fossil fuel workers is that we’re not going to leave anybody behind,” Granholm said on SiriusXM radio last week.
They may not be left behind — but will they be left with a decent paycheck that matches their former wage?
And it’s not just wildcat drillers who will be out of luck. Many experts say transitioning to electric vehicles will likely mean fewer factory workers than are now employed in producing traditional engines. EVs have 30% to 40% fewer moving parts than vehicles that run on petroleum.
Lawkmakers and activists who champion making climate change a top priority don’t have jobs that are hanging on the line. It’s easy to advocate for solar-powered everything when you and your family are not dependent on a fossil fuel industry job.
Before the Biden Administration makes any sweeping changes in the interests of green energy and infrastructure, it should make sure those who would have to leave the fossil fuel sector have jobs available in the clean energy industry that would at least match their previous pay.
This is not an act now, figure it out later proposition.
American workers depend on it.