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).
Cheddar's Megan Pratz was serving as Vice President Mike Pence's pool reporter as news broke that members of his team tested positive for the coronavirus.
Big tech CEOs are gearing up to testify in Washington as lawmakers prepare to take action on tech liability. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) joined Cheddar to discuss.
Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat, joined Cheddar to discuss what he feels is the need for Joe Biden to win the November election as the country faces the climate crisis.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has declared Japan will achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050 in his first policy speech since taking over from Shinzo Abe.
Amy Coney Barrett is headed to to the Supreme Court. The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee, with Republicans overpowering Democratic opposition a week before Election Day.
Deaths per day from the coronavirus in the U.S. are on the rise again, just as health experts had feared, and cases are climbing in nearly every state, despite assurances from President Donald Trump over the weekend.
Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif. 3rd District) joined Cheddar to discuss a new bill he is lobbying for that would bring more shipbuilding to the U.S.
The United States is approaching a record for the number of new daily coronavirus cases in the latest ominous sign of the disease’s grip on the nation.
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.
President Donald Trump says Sudan will start to normalize ties with Israel, making it the third Arab state to do so in the run-up to Election Day.
