Coal Mining Jobs

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Coal Mining Jobs

Suppose that we consider the fates of two people, a coal miner from a mid-latitude place such as Poland or Pennsylvania, and a subsistence farmer from a low-latitude place such as the Sahel. Suppose further that because of resource depletion and technological change including cheap fracked gas, the coal-miner's job is ultimately unsustainable; in contrast, the farmer's job was sustainable if very difficult in the face of natural weather events, but is being made ultimately unsustainable by the additional stress from climate change. (Yes, we just made several suppositions, and the individual case here may not be accurate, but the broader issues are relevant.)

In the coal miner's case, even though the job is ultimately going to be lost for economic reasons, some triggering event is likely to control the exact timing, and that event may be the start of a new government regulation to limit climate change. In the farmer's case, even though the farm is ultimately going to be lost because of climate change, some triggering event such as a weather-related drought is likely to control the exact timing. The short-term story that is easiest for news media to cover is that weather hurt the farmer and efforts to combat climate change hurt the miner; the long-term story is that the evolving economy hurt the miner and climate change hurt the farmer.

The slow nature of global warming, and the fact that so much of the damage comes from weather events that were made more likely or worse but were not completely caused by the changing climate, poses a large communications challenge. The story that is easiest to tell is largely wrong, with actions that help people getting bad press.

This example was carefully constructed, and there likely will be coal-mine jobs lost because of any serious effort to limit climate change. But, the issues raised are real.