What do you make of the states standing to benefit most from a coal to hydrogen transition tending to be more rural or Republican-leaning? Those Republican rural communities have been sold this rubbish line of “it’s either coal or doom.” The real doom for them is if the world goes off and does something else and leaves them behind. The only difference between a coal-fired power plant and one reconfigured to green hydrogen is you will need more people to run those plants. Biden put jobs at the center of his climate messaging. Does the messenger actually need to be someone with a track record of creating jobs? It’s a bloody good point. I think I can deliver that message much stronger, because I'm not a politician. I'm not looking for votes, this is the hardcore reality. I’ve met with coal-fired power station workers in West Virginia. When I stand in front of them, I'm a person who's employed 23,000 people from scratch, and I can walk amongst them [his employees] anywhere, and they'll all know my name, and buy me a beer or I buy them a beer. I'm not some fat cat, and they can see that. I can say to them we're not going to be able to use your [existing] career. But everything else we can really use: your energy, your innovation, your character. We're going to re-train you into this. They don’t want to hear “we’re shutting this down and we’re gonna bank the carbon credits” or “we're going to make a buck on Wall Street and see you later.” But that’s what they’ve been hearing. So my job is to say “do not fear the green industrial revolution — it needs more people like us.” What do U.N. climate negotiations get wrong, and where should they go instead? That's easy. I'd ask all those negotiators to speak and look through the lens of employment. Talk about employment and the beauty of hydrogen and ammonia and green ethanol and green aviation fuels, and turning trucks, ships, and trains green. I've automated a mining company. In miles, Fortescue Metals Group machines have been to the moon and back 150 times, fully autonomously. It could have been absolutely devastating for all those drivers: Four drivers for every truck, thrown out of work. We lost no one. We employed 8,000 people when we started automating, and we employed 16,000 when we finished. We didn't make money on chopping heads, we made money on efficiency, which gave us growth. There's nowhere in the world where you have automation and high tech, without high employment. Run climate messages through employment, and people will listen.
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