"As if helping to save the world from the worst effects of climate change were not enough, renewable energy may also curb workplace injuries and deaths. That's because fossil fuels – as the term suggests – have to be dug or drained from underground, and mining is one of the deadliest of industries. Oil and gas extraction account for 100 deaths each year in the US alone, coal another 30, not to mention many more non-fatal injuries. Carbon-sparing energy sources such as solar panels and windmills, on the other hand, are unlikely to take such a toll on the workers who build and maintain them, argues Steven Sumner, a physician at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. "Extracting the fuel, generating the power and distributing the power are more dangerous in fossil fuel energy than renewable energy."" - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet