A shortage of skilled tradespeople My required electrical engineering course was taught by a Ph.D. so spacey it was like taking a class from The Nutty Professor. I got an ‘A’ and laughed out loud over it for spitting back on the tests information I never really understood. It’s said one can graduate with a degree in electrical engineering and not know how to wire an electrical outlet. Believe it. The problem with moving to electric vehicles and away from fossil fuels for heating and power is that the country will need a lot more electricians able to wire up all that gear. David Owen at The New Yorker reports there is a shortage of them, but also “heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) techs.” Owen explains: One reason for the skilled-labor gap is that the work is real work. The electricians who restored power to the houses on our road spent Christmas Eve in bucket trucks, buffeted by winds so strong they made the screens on our porch hum like kazoos. LeMieux told me that he’s had apprentices who quit after a few months because they had decided the job was too wet, too messy, too cold, too dirty, too hot. A more significant factor may be that, for decades, employers, educators, politicians, and parents have argued that the only sure ticket to the good life in America is a college degree. People who graduate from college do earn more, on average, than people who don’t, but the statistics can…