President Donald Trump’s attempt to create U.S. jobs by taxing solar panel imports could backfire.
That’s according to the CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association trade group, who says it’s domestic workers that will feel the pain.
“We have been the fastest growing form of new energy...and this is putting the brakes on that crazy growth,” Abigail Ross Hopper told Cheddar in an interview. “These are not people who are looking for what nationality the company they work for is. They just want to feed their families and pay their mortgages. And those are the people whose jobs are at risk.”
Earlier this week President Trump signed a law that would impose a 30 percent tariff on imported solar panel and sells, a move the administration says will encourage domestic manufacturing.
But the SEIA says the vast majority of the 260,000 Americans employed in the industry work in peripheral industries like installation. Ross Hopper says the bill will result in 23,000 layoffs this year and delay or cancel billions of dollars of investment in the sector.
She also says it might dissuade U.S. consumers from going green.
“Most [businesses and consumers] want to choose solar because it saves them money,” she said. “This decision changes that calculus.”
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/solar-power-in-america).
Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker, and Ron Wyden unveiled the draft of a historic cannabis decriminalization bill on Wednesday, more than five months after originally announcing it.
While testifying before Congress on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell offered his most extensive comments yet on the possibility of a central bank digital currency.
President Joe Biden is stepping up his bid to push his multitrillion-dollar domestic agenda through Congress.
President Joe Biden is declaring that preserving voting rights is “a test of our time” as he urges passage of federal legislation to combat efforts by Republican-led state legislatures to restrict access to ballots.
"Uranium bulls," a small but devoted group of investors, see an opportunity in the metal commodity that makes nuclear power possible.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
U.S. health officials say vaccinated teachers and students don't need to wear masks inside school buildings.
For most aficionados, a sparkling wine can be called champagne only if it comes from the region of France with that name and is made under certain regulations.
President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that targets what he says are anticompetitive practices in tech, health care and other parts of the economy.
President Joe Biden says the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan will conclude on Aug. 31. He says “speed is safety” as the United States seeks to end the nearly 20-year war.
