Why Smarter Ways Exist to Foster Innovation and Save Jobs

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Trump’s Destructive Solar Tariffs: Why Smarter Ways Exist to Foster Innovation and Save Jobs

"Solar job growth took off in 2010. By 2016, more than 260,000 Americans worked in the industry, up from fewer than 95,000 seven years earlier."

"An uninterrupted solar boom would create even more jobs. The number of solar panel installers, for example, would more than double from 11,300 to 23,000 within 10 years at the current pace of growth, which would make it the fastest-growing profession, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Another renewable energy mainstay, wind turbine technician, came in a close second."

"Imposing tariffs on imported panels would cloud that outlook, largely because manufacturing accounts for less than 15 percent of U.S. solar jobs while installation amounts to more than half of them, according to the Solar Foundation's annual census. If panels get more expensive, the cost to go solar will rise and demand will fall—along with the impetus to employ so many installers."

U6 Vs. U3

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The True Unemployment Rate: U6 Vs. U3

"The first two BLS measures of the unemployment rate, U-1 and U-2, are very narrow. The U-3 unemployment rate is the officially recognized rate of unemployment, measuring the number of unemployed people as a percentage of the labor force. Unless otherwise stated, all generic references to the employment rate in government communications and in the media refer to U-3 unemployment. The U-4 unemployment rate is similar to the U-3 rate, but it adds in a category of people who are technically outside the labor force, known as discouraged workers. Discouraged workers desire work and have actively looked for work in the past 12 months, but they have not looked in the last four weeks because they don't believe there is work available for them due to economic conditions or other reasons. The U-5 unemployment rate includes everyone in the U-4 rate, in addition to any people who are available to work, willing to work and not discouraged from looking for work, but who have not looked for work in the prior four weeks for some other reason. The U-6 unemployment rate includes everyone in the U-5 rate plus any people who work part time because full-time work is not available due to economic conditions."

January 23, 2018 9 AM Update

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Good morning! This Tuesday is National Pie Day. 🍰Or some silly calendar told me so. Two weeks to Lame Duck Day. 🐦Well, I thought that was the day after election day. Moderately heavy rain is washing the snow away with the mercury around   42 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a south-southeast breeze at 14 mph. The skies will clear around 9 pm.

While January showers wash away the snow, ❄March showers will bring… ☔56 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌼🌻

Today will rain, mainly before 5pm. High of 51 degrees at 3pm. 20 degrees above normal. ☔☔☔Maximum dew point of 43 at 1pm. South wind 8 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 64 was set in 1906. 10.6 inches of snow fell back in 1963.

The sun will set at 4:58 pm with dusk around 5:28 pm, which is one minute and 16 seconds later than yesterday. At sunset, look for rain and 51 degrees.☔ There will be a south-southwest breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 41 minutes of daytime, a increase of 2 minutes and 2 seconds over yesterday.:D

Tonight will have a chance of rain showers before 1am, then a slight chance of rain and snow showers between 1am and 3am, then a slight chance of snow showers after 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low of 29 degrees at 6am. 13 degrees above normal. ☁  Breezy, with a west wind 11 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. ❄In 2017, we had light rain sleet in the evening, which became sleet and mist by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 32 degrees. The record low of -17 occurred back in 1948.

I don’t expect much snow this weekend for the Save the Pine Bush hike. 👫I’m undecided if I’m going out to Schoharie County this weekend to camp and hike, it’s going to be decided by the forecast for the weekend. ⛺Saturday still really looks nice and snow free at lower elevations but it may be wet on Sunday and is certain to be muddy. 😁

Programmed one of the DS3231 chips and built a clock as a proof of concept with the Arduino. Rather than soldering directly to pins, I’m going to use Dupont Wire to connect the components of my projects on the pin headers going forward. This will make it easier to swap components and my soldering skills still are so bad. I wish I had ordered more than one of that cheap practice kit I got directly from China because I kind of made a mess with the soldering iron, probably damaging shit. I’m hoping the plexiglass weld comes soon because I’m excited about the prospect of building an clear enclosure with plexiglass. It will look nice, especially if I throw in some random LEDs to back-light the case. 

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Lame Duck Day🐦 when the sun will be setting at 5:16 pm with dusk at 5:45 pm. I guess if the duck is lame and not sick, he’s probably good eating. 🍲On that day in 2017, we had snow, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 33 and 25 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 55 back in 1991.