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).
A fiery crash near Houston with no one behind the wheel of a Tesla is drawing scrutiny from federal agencies that could bring new regulation of electronic systems that take on some driving tasks.
Despite a measurable impact that the COVID-19 pandemic made on carbon emissions throughout 2020, researchers are warning that to hold back climate change, nations need to keep pushing for reductions.
Apple said it has an agreement to reinstate Parler, the social network popular with supporters of former President Donald Trump it kicked off its app store in January over ties to the deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol.
The United States and China, the world’s two biggest carbon polluters, have agreed to cooperate to curb climate change with urgency.
Ezra Kucharz, chief business officer at DraftKings, talked to Cheddar about the online sportsbook's deal with the NFL and the future of legal sports gambling in the U.S.
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.
Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y. 17th District) is the first member of Congress to call on 82-year-old Justice Stephen Breyer, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, to retire.
Nine lives notwithstanding, killing a cat in a hit-and-run soon could become illegal in New Hampshire.
Cheddar takes a closer look at the controversy surrounding COVID-19 "vaccine passports."
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to 576,000, a hopeful sign that layoffs are easing as the economy recovers from the pandemic recession.
