Look at the electoral map of the 2016 Presidential campaign and you’ll see the center of the USA and the South went for Donald J Trump. Overlay that with a map of USA solar, in the South and Southwest, and wind resources, through the Plains States and some political, economic, and social opportunities may jump out.
An October 2016 Pew survey showed that 89% of Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, support more solar in the USA. As "strong majorities of all political groups support more solar and wind production,” renewable energy is one issue nearly 90% of Americans can agree on.
Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/10/04/the-politics-of-climate/#strong-bipartisan-support-for-expanding-solar-wind-energy-production
According to the Solar Foundation’s 2015 National Solar Jobs Census , in 2015, the USA solar energy industry employed 209,000 people a 20 percent job growth rate in 2015, a job-creation rate 12 times higher than employment growth in the overall economy, and the third year in a row that saw 20% annual job growth. Since 2010, The Solar Foundation’s Census series reports that solar employment has grown by 123%, an increase of 115,000 solar jobs.
Source: http://www.thesolarfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/2015-Census-Factsheet-FINAL.pdf
USA wind industry now employs over 88,000 people, about 21,000 of those are Rust Belt manufacturing jobs, which rose by 10% in 2014, 38,000 are blue collar jobs, and 8,800 of those are wind tech jobs, climbing the towers to maintain the turbines, the fastest growing job in the USA according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics
These are local jobs in red state America, like Texas with over 24,000 wind energy workers, Oklahoma with 7,000, Iowa with over 6,000, and Kansas with 5,000. There are low-income rural counties in red states where wind means jobs and money (if not lower energy bills). “Overall, 70% of wind farms are located in low-income counties, supplying them with an economic boost. Wind developers pay a growing total of $222 million a year in land lease payments to U.S. farmers, ranchers, and other rural landowners.”
That’s solar and wind, in all, over 600,000 people work in industries related to alternative energy.
James Fallows from The Atlantic has done a short video about A Renewable Energy Revolution in Small-Town America
youtu.be/…
Local groups like Solar Holler and others are working in Appalachia
Ecological designer John Todd outlined a Comprehensive Design for a Carbon Neutral World with Appalachia in mind
There is also an active eco-right with such groups as the Green Tea Party in Georgia and RepublicEn out of NC.
However, there are real problems with renewables that have to be considered:
www.dailykos.com/…
Solar has been getting 10% cheaper every year since the 1980s.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/26/solar-panel-costs-predicted-to-fall-10-a-year
The price of solar decreased from $8 per Watt in 2005 to around $2.75 per Watt in 2014.
And it’s only going to get cheaper. Manufacturers of solar rechargeable lights are approaching production costs of $1 per unit and the Chinese company Ying Li is marketing their solar lights in Africa at $5 per unit retail. There’s even an effort to crowd fund a solar light for every family in the Dominican Republic at that $5 price point (
www.indiegogo.com/...)
These political possibilities are one reason why I talk and write about Solar IS Civil Defense, advocate a Solar Swadeshi and Solar Electric Power to the People, not just as political slogans but also as practical applications of available and affordable technologies.
Editorial Comment: I apologize for the formatting and mourn the death of WYSIWYG on dailykos.