This is a common misconception, and one that is happily amplified and re-tweeted by the Fossil Fuel industry.
First, it is in the coal miners’ best interest to stop mining coal and re-train into another line of work. Coal mining kills over 12,000 people every year worldwide in accidents alone. Another 6,000 die annually from black lung disease.
And, dying from black lung disease is a MISERABLE way to go — many reporting a sensation of drowning in their own lung fluid.
Further, burning coal is responsible for over 800,000 premature deaths per year globally and many millions more serious and minor illnesses.
Moreover, blaming renewable energy power plants for the loss of coal jobs is not accurate. Coal fired power plants are just as likely to be replaced by Natural Gas fired power generation units as they are renewable energy plants such as Solar, Wind or Geothermal.
In the final analysis, moving to renewable power generation might be a sudden adjustment for some in the short run — but this pales in comparison to the pain that will be felt by all of humanity if we don’t continue to move fast toward clean and healthy energy capture and storage.
