LAST YEAR THE U.S. PRODUCED ALMOST 20 PERCENT OF ELECTRICITY VIA RENEWABLES — OBLITERATING EXPECTATIONS

Jun 5, 2017 by

 

US President Barack Obama walks to the lectern to speak about clean energy jobs at Hill Air Force Base in Utah on April 3, 2014. AFP PHOTO/ MANDEL NGAN        (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

So much nicer to see an impressive person playing the part of world leader

While Donald Trump and his crew tell everybody how shitty a place America is and try to drive the train of progress into an abandoned coal mine, there are huge steps forward being taken in the world of renewable energy. Arstechnica breaks down the new numbers released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) concerning our country’s generation of electricity.

The striking part about that number is that the EIA, a statistical department within the Department of Energy, couldn’t foresee how dramatically renewables’ share of the electricity mix would increase just five years ago. In 2012, the administration predicted (PDF, page 87) that electricity generation from renewable sources would increase “from 10 percent in 2010 to 15 percent in 2035.” Even by 2015, the administration predicted (PDF, page ES-6) that “The renewable share of total generation grows from 13 percent in 2013 to 18 percent in 2040.”

Non-profit organization Sun Day Campaign said in a statement that, if the EIA were to extend its 2012 renewable growth forecast further out into the future, “renewables would not be expected to reach 19.35 percent until roughly the year 2057.”

The 19.35 percent number comes in when you figure in both new renewables like wind, solar, and geothermal energy along with hydroelectric production. So while our Republican leadership would love to move back to a bartering system where most of us are serfs and our wealthy landowner lords treat us like children, the world continues to move on.

The United States has over 800,000 renewable energy industry jobs and those numbers will continue to grow. On the flip side, coal has lost about 60,000 coal jobs over the past five years but has gained at least 70 new coal jobs!

While blasting the Paris climate accord as unfair to coal miners, Trump pointed to the “opening of a brand-new mine.” It opens soon and he’s been invited to attend when it does, the president added.

Trump didn’t name the facility, but the Acosta Coal Mine in western Pennsylvania is set to open on June 8.

The mine will produce coal used for steelmaking and is expected to create 70 to 100 full-time jobs, according to owner Corsa Coal.

In your face, libtards!

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