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this is an issue that will need attention worldwide. there's a huge cottage industry of small businesses built up around motor vehicle service. lubrication, mu
by a-dub 5y ago
this is an issue that will need attention worldwide. there's a huge cottage industry of small businesses built up around motor vehicle service. lubrication, muffler shops, transmission shops, mechanics, emissions certification shops and others i don't even know.
i think there needs to be a plan in place for what all those people are going to do with new vehicle technology that only requires a tenth of the service.
if governments mandate transitions to technologies that take away the life's work and livelihoods of people and simply ignore the fact that it's happening, those who lose everything will take political action to get it back. we've already seen some of this and it has not been pretty.
- phicoh 5y agoThere is a huge number of technical people needed for the energy transition. If everybody starts driving EVs, who installs the chargers? Who upgrades the grid? Who installs new heating systems in homes (and upgrades the electrical installation in the homes)? If anything, we are way short on people.
- a-dub 5y agoright. but is anyone thinking about how the transition may go? how decentralized is the fossil fuel vehicle industry and how might its replacement look? are there policy levers that can ensure the new ev economy is as inclusive as the fossil fuel one was? are there policy levers for taking care of those who simply won't have a place in the new economy and have too much invested in the old one? it seems this all gets way too little attention.
- rurp 5y agoSkilled jobs aren't that fluid though. Many of the new EV jobs will require very different skills from the jobs they are displacing. I wouldn't assume that laying off a bunch of auto mechanics will fill a bunch of electrical engineer jobs any more than I would expect it to fix a nursing shortage. There are things the govt can do to help that transition though, such as free job training and economic support for laid off workers. I understood the OP's point to be that the govt has a responsibilty to pursue these types of policies, and I totally agree.
- josephcsible 5y agoAre you saying that we should ban low-maintenance technology since high-maintenance technology needs more jobs? Sounds like the broken window fallacy.
- agumonkey 5y agoNo he said their fear is a natural reflex and moving away from expensive polluting things also require taking care of people who lived from it.
- a-dub 5y agono, but if governments subsidize transitions to new technologies, then they are responsible for all of the effects of those transitions. what would you do if your government provided tax incentives for your employer to hire your job out to another country and you lost your job (and most other jobs like it?). you'd probably vote for literally anyone who would reverse that.
- ClumsyPilot 5y agoI agree there should be a plan, but currently government subsidies the oil industry more than they subsidise anything green.
- rurp 5y agoTrue, but how much of the value of those subsidies goes to the workers who will lose their jobs in a transition? I don't know, but I suspect most of that value is captured by people far enough up the corporate ladder that they will be doing just fine regardless of what happens.
- DeRock 5y agoYou could argue that both direct oil subsidies and indirect "lack of carbon tax" subsidies also exist and contribute to reduced demand for EVs. Is that fair to EV manufacturers and their employees?
- jhenkens 5y agoDon't forget all the pump attendants in the (two?) states where you can't pump your own gas!
- inglor_cz 5y agoMaybe there will be "outlet assistant" that will plug your electric car in. Hands off the holy socket, amateurs :)