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).
Spreading the word that the COVID vaccine is safe and effective is Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., who represents Harlem and much of Upper Manhattan.
President-elect Joe Biden received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations are safe.
Breaking with President Donald Trump, outgoing Attorney General William Barr says he sees “no reason” to appoint a special counsel on potential election fraud or the tax investigation into the son of President-elect Joe Biden.
A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that represented Virginia in the U.S. Capitol has been removed. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said in a statement that workers removed the statue from the National Statuary Hall Collection early Monday.
Congressional leaders have hashed out a massive, year-end catchall bill that combines $900 billion in COVID-19 aid with a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill.
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) sent a last-minute Christmas request this week to the leaders of six major streaming services on behalf of the American public.
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.
Top negotiators on a must-pass, almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package are committed to sealing an agreement in hopes of passing the legislation this weekend.
The legislative branch of government is rapidly moving to receive the coronavirus vaccine, with both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell getting the shot on Friday.
As the second wave of COVID-19 sweeps the U.S., frontline doctors are reliving the worst of the pandemic. Cheddar's Michelle Castillo finds out how doctors are coping.
