Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: ‘If you believe in markets, you have to believe the era of coal has ended’
(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) — Park City, Utah — “Anything that Trump does is not going to bring back a single coal job, not one,” said environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “If you believe in markets, you have to believe that the era of coal has ended.”
Kennedy, President of Waterkeeper Alliance, spoke to EnviroNews Editor-in-Chief Emerson Urry during a wide-ranging interview in Park City, Utah on June 8, 2017, at the Waterkeeper Alliance International Conference. Kennedy’s main point: The Trump Administration’s favoring of fossil fuels over renewables will cost the nation jobs rather than save them.
“The solar industry is growing at 17 times the rate of the rest of the economy and the number one job demand is for wind turbine engineers,” said Kennedy. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reported the solar power industry created more U.S. jobs in 2016 than the oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries combined. Employment in the electric power generation sector is up 13 percent over 2015, and the DOE states the majority of jobs “are comprised of employees installing and building new renewable energy capacity additions.”
Power generation from coal declined 53 percent from 2006 to 2016, while solar grew 5,000 percent, according to data from the same DOE report. Bloomberg New Energy Finance concluded, “With the vast majority of America’s coal getting shipped to the country’s shrinking fleet of power plants that burn it, there’s little economic need to increase coal production.”
Kennedy explained it this way: “An industrial utility scale solar plant in this country costs $1 billion a gigawatt. A coal plant costs $3-5 billion a gigawatt, an oil plant or gas plant costs $3-5 [billion per gigawatt], and a nuke plant costs $9-15 [billion per gigawatt].” An analysis by Energy Post found that capital and operating costs for coal-fired power plants are higher than for new natural gas, wind or solar facilities. In addition, coal industry jobs are being lost to greater automation of the mining process.
“Coal is never coming back to eastern Kentucky or southern West Virginia,” Kennedy added. But, he pointed out, “a lot of those jobs in the renewable energy sector are in red states like Utah, which are not going to benefit from the withdrawal of support” by President Trump.
WATCH OTHER SEGMENTS FROM THE ENVIRONEWS EXCLUSIVE WITH ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Talks Tesla, Electric Big Rigs and the Impending Death of Fossil Fuels
(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – Park City, Utah – In the view of environmental advocate and Waterkeeper Alliance President Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the oil industry is trying to hold back the future. “The only way they can maintain market dominance is by controlling our political system, because…
Robert Kennedy Jr: ‘Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) Are Destroying Democracy’
(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) Park City, Utah – Legendary environmental activist and attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sat down on camera with EnviroNews Editor-in-Chief Emerson Urry in an exclusive interview at the Waterkeeper Alliance International Conference in Park City, Utah, on June 8, 2017. Amongst an array of…
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: ‘I love James Hansen, but he is wrong on [the nuclear power issue]’
(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – Park City, Utah – Is nuclear power the answer to global warming? Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. doesn’t think so. In this interview with EnviroNews editor-in-chief Emerson Urry, the well-known environmental activist explains his position on the contentious issue. “I’m all for nuke if…
‘An Act of War’: RFK Jr. Puts U.S. Military and CAFOs on Blast for Trashing America’s Waterways
(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – Park City, Utah – “If a foreign government contaminated our country like the Department of Defense has, it would be considered an act of war.” Those were the words from distinguished environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in an interview with EnviroNews Editor-in-Chief…
Waterkeeper Alliance: How a Movement Was Born – as Recalled by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – Park City, Utah – When Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, Jr. was eight years old, he had already banked many memories of outdoor family outings, including kayaking and fishing with his father Bobby Kennedy, in turn developing a love for nature in a vigorous and…
America’s Mercury Crisis: ‘Fish consumption is dangerous now’ – Robert Kennedy Jr. Weighs in
(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – Park City, Utah – On June 8, 2017, at the Waterkeeper Alliance International Conference in Park City, Utah, EnviroNews Editor-in-Chief Emerson Urry sat down with legendary environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to discuss an array of water-related topics, including mercury poisoning. Kennedy…
RFK Jr.: ‘[Waterkeeper is] filing barrages of suits to stop the dismantling of the Clean Water Act’
(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) – Park City, Utah – Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President of Waterkeeper Alliance (the Alliance), sat down with EnviroNews Editor-in-Chief Emerson Urry to discuss the organization’s response to the Trump Administration, which has been active in upending environmental regulations. The interview took place June…
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Inside Look: Waterkeeper: Patrolling 2.5m Sq-Miles of Watershed, Catching Polluters, Saving H2O
(EnviroNews Utah) – Marc Yaggi, Executive Director for Waterkeeper Alliance, sat down on June 8, 2017, with EnviroNews Utah reporter Michael Orton in Park City, Utah to discuss the organization’s purpose. “Waterkeeper Alliance is an international movement uniting more than 320 locally-based clean water advocacy organizations and focusing…
FILM AND ARTICLE CREDITS
- Dan Zukowski - Journalist, Article Author
- Michael Orton
- Emerson Urry
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