15/07/2016

Coal'sCollapseCommences...&Conservative"Concern"ForCoalWorkersExplained|CleanTechnica

CoalsCollapseCommences&
ConservativeConcernForCoalWorkers
Explained
July13th,2016byZacharyShahan

Firstofall,letsgetthisstraightIdontthinkanyoneispurelyagainstthepeoplewho
pullcoaloutoftheground,thepeoplelookingforsteadyjobsanddecentincome,orthe
peoplewhotrytohelppeoplefromlosingtheirjobs.Butweareagainstburningcoalfor
electricity,becausethatcauses~$500billionayearinhumanandsocietalharminthe
UnitedStatesalone,andwenowhavemuchcleaner,cheaperoptions.
Onceuponatime,burningcoalwasimportantforbringingelectricitytomorehomesand
improvingtheeconomy.Today,itisjustabadidea.
Luckily,thegiantisfallingandyouknowhowlargethingsfall.Unfortunately,someof
the effects are not pretty, and some of the falling process is intent on wreaking more
havoc. First, Ill expose some of the encouraging numbers, and then the political
nonsense.

CoalsDecline
Approximately 2 years ago, burning coal accounted for ~40% of US electricity (41% in
March2014and39%for2014asawhole).Now,itsdownto~24%(23.8%inMarch
2016, the most recent available month from the Energy Information Administration).
Wasitjustabadmonthforcoal(andgoodmonthforhumanswhodontwantcancer,
heart disease, or other coalrelated problems)? Well, it was a bad month, but it also
followedacleartrend.

http://cleantechnica.com/2016/07/13/coalsmonumentalcollapse/

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15/07/2016

Coal'sCollapseCommences...&Conservative"Concern"ForCoalWorkersExplained|CleanTechnica

ThankstoCleanTechnicacommunitymanagerBobWallaceforthe
info/dataonthis,collaborationonthecharts(leadingtheworkonthem),
andthepushtowritethisarticle.

USElectricitySharefromCoal
(%)
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Coal'sCollapseCommences...&Conservative"Concern"ForCoalWorkersExplained|CleanTechnica

1974

44%

1975

44%

1976

46%

1977

46%

1978

44%

1979

48%

1980

51%

1981

52%

1982

53%

1983

54%

1984

56%

1985

57%

1986

56%

1987

57%

1988

57%

1989

53%

1990

53%

1991

52%

1992

53%

1993

53%

1994

52%

1995

51%

1996

52%

1997

53%

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Coal'sCollapseCommences...&Conservative"Concern"ForCoalWorkersExplained|CleanTechnica

1998

52%

1999

51%

2000

52%

2001

51%

2002

50%

2003

51%

2004

50%

2005

50%

2006

49%

2007

49%

2008

48%

2009

44%

2010

45%

2011

42%

2012

37%

2013

39%

2014

39%

2015

33%

As you can see in various forms above, the past decade has seen a rapid decline in
electricity from coal. After holding steady at 44% or more for decades (and decade
averages>50%)
20062015sawadecadeaverageof43%
coaldroppedbelow40%(downto37%)in2012
coalreachedalowof33%in2015

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Coal'sCollapseCommences...&Conservative"Concern"ForCoalWorkersExplained|CleanTechnica

coalreachedaquarterlylowof29%inQ12016

The future doesnt look any brighter for the industry, with many excessively dirty coal
power plants reaching the end of their lives, new power capacity being dominated by
renewables(99%inQ12016)andnaturalgas(alongsiderenewablesin2014and2015,
buthardlyregisteringin2016sofar),andcoalsimplynotcompetingwithrenewables
(orothersources)inmultipleways.

ChartbyMikeBarnard,forCleanTechnica.

GraphbyBobWallace.

Theindustryisonitsdeathbedisonewayofdescribingthesituationthough,itwill
bealong,agonizingperiodofsufferingthere,sincetherearestillalotofpowerplantsto
shutdown.
As you can also see, though, the 2040 Energy Information Administration (EIA)
projectionforcoalisactuallyabovethe2015percentagehowthatwouldberealisticis
beyondanylogicIcanconsiderworthdiscussing.
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Coal'sCollapseCommences...&Conservative"Concern"ForCoalWorkersExplained|CleanTechnica

HumanLivesSacrificedForMore$$$ForDecades,
ButNowWeHaveAProblem
Unfortunately, with a decline in the industry, industry jobs are also being lost the
people in those jobs could betransitioned to the energy industries of the 21st
century, but governments, corporations, communities, and individuals need to pursue
that.
Or you could just blame things on the evil people trying to bring about societal
progress, and push people losing their jobs to vote for someone promising to do the
impossibleandgrowtheshrinkingcoalindustry.
CoalbaronRobertMurrayfollowedthatadvicerecentlywhileannouncingplanstolay
off4,400people,~80%ofMurrayEnergystaff,Murraysaidthelayoffswereduetothe
ongoingdestructionoftheUnitedStatescoalindustrybyPresidentBarackObama,and
his supporters, and the increased utilization of natural gas to generate electricity. Ah,
yes, President Obama has that much power, and it has nothing to do with cheap
renewableslikesolarandwind.
Also, as Bob Wallace noted, the majority of coal jobs went away years ago due to
mechanization and mountaintop removal. Renewables are now getting the blame but
coal country was mortally wounded well before wind and solar became significant
players.

GraphbyPaulKrugman,viaNYTimes.

PaulKrugman,in2014,wroteaboutthewaroncoalandtheodddelayinRepublican
concern:
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