We all want good jobs for ourselves and our neighbors, excellent schools, and a robust economy.
Ditto for a clean and healthy environment in which our children and grandchildren can live, play, and thrive long into the future. These are not mutually exclusive possibilities.
Nevertheless, those who stand to profit from fossil fuel production often present these as an either/or dichotomy. Such entities include Aera Energy, co-owned by Shell and ExxonMobil, and a co-sponsor of the recent 2020 Economic Forecast event hosted by the Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce.
In the 1800s, oil drilling was a major California industry and supplied 39 percent of the nation’s oil. Today, California oil produces only 3.5 percent of U.S. oil. In Santa Barbara County, oil accounts for only 1 percent of total employment and 1 percent of county taxes.
Just think: Clean energy jobs in California now outnumber jobs in the fossil fuel industry 5 to 1, driven by our expanding renewable energy and climate laws.
Solar installation has been a godsend for the construction industry, providing jobs for union laborers such as carpenters, plumbers, and electricians. There are now 10,000 solar businesses in the U.S., employing about a quarter of a million people. Four in 10 of those jobs are in California.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs reports that it’s time to sell ExxonMobil’s stock due to the unpredictable price of crude in the future. Is this where we want to put all our chips for economic security in our county?
Let’s stop dealing in false dichotomies and get on with what is clearly the future. We can have clean jobs, good schools, and a healthy environment.
Rachel Altman
Santa Barbara
This article appears in Mar 5-12, 2020.