The Coming Crisis, Part 3

This is a follow up to my first 2 parts about ‘The Coming Crisis’.  

These are some basic recommendations about what might be part of the solution.

To refresh your memory, in my first 2 parts I wrote about how driverless technology has the capacity to wipe out millions of truck driving jobs.

So, the question is, what do we do about it in advance knowing that it’s coming?

I have loved the idea of a decentralized grid for electricity ever since I heard of it.  A simple way of thinking about a decentralized grid is that every other house would have a solar panel roof that would power itself and the house next to it.  

As it stands now, most cities in the USA have a centralized form of electricity generation.  In addition to being extremely inefficient, a centralized grid is also a huge security risk.  All you would have to do to knock out an entire city’s electricity is target a single power plant.

Solar power has come down in costs per kilowatt hour significantly in the past decade.  Now it’s just about competitive with fossil fuels, depending on who you ask and which fuel source is receiving how much in terms of subsidies.

Nuclear power is by far the most efficient fuel source.  Many people view this as a way forward.  The more I’ve thought about this coming jobs crisis though, the more I think we really ought to be looking more at solar.  

From what little I know about energy sources, it seems like nuclear carries quite a bit of risk.  Even if you can store the waste safely, it takes forever to build a nuclear plant and again the problem of a centralized power station is present.

Solar power requires way more manpower immediately for installation.  More manpower means more men (and women!) are needed, which of course provides more jobs.  I have no doubt that nuclear plants require a lot of manpower to build as well.  However, and to be sure I haven’t done the research on it, I’m guessing you can create many more jobs in many more areas of the country with solar roof installation.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could put unemployed people to work making and installing solar panels?