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).
Outgoing freshman Representative Joe Cunningham (D-S.C. 1st District) capped his farewell speech today with an unorthodox — and prohibited — gesture on the House floor.
Dozens of states filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Google on Thursday, alleging that the search giant has an illegal monopoly over the online search market that hurts consumers and advertisers.
The Trump administration has relaxed a regulation restricting water flow from showerheads — something that was a pet peeve of President Trump, who complained that he wanted more water to make his hair “perfect.”
One of President Donald Trump's former Atlantic City casinos will be blown up next month, and for the right amount of money, you could be the one to press the button that brings it down.
Top congressional leaders appear to be on the brink of a long-delayed COVID-19 aid package.
The Federal Reserve will keep buying government bonds until the economy makes “substantial” progress, a step intended to reassure financial markets and keep long-term borrowing rates low.
Paris city hall has been fined 90,000 euros ($109,408) for having appointed too many women to top positions in 2018, in breach of a law aimed at ensuring gender balance.
The pace is intensifying as Washington negotiators try to reach agreement on COVID-19 relief. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has summoned other top congressional leaders for a potentially critical meeting on Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell congratulated Democrat Joe Biden on Tuesday as the president-elect. The Republican leader said the Electoral College “has spoken.”
Attorney General William Barr, one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies, is resigning amid lingering tension with the president over the president’s baseless claims of election fraud and the investigation into President-elect Joe Biden’s son.
