This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Solar energy, properly understood, is far and away the largest supporter of jobs on the planet. All agriculture/grazing/forestry is directly derived from sunlight. All above sea level water movement (as well as a lot below) comes from sunlight moving water into the atmosphere (yes, mountains as we know them, are created by the sun). All wind energy is dependent on sunlight.
Amazingly, even oil, coal and natural gas are forms of solar energy. These extractive industries are the ugly side of what the sun has given humanity over time, and should now be left in place because of that. Nonetheless, coal miners owe their living to solar energy, so should rejoice at the chance to move to the clean side of that force.
Literally, life itself here does not exist without solar energy, and only demonstrably very stupid people would accept the global warming challenge of daring the sun to prove that what has been given in abundance also can be lost due to willful ignorance.
Darrell Prows
Murray