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).
In the midst of a national protest movement calling for an end to systemic racism in the criminal justice system, the idea of celebrating the end of slavery as a national holiday is gaining momentum among political leaders, activists, and corporate head-honchos alike.
NBA Executive, Michele Roberts joins Cheddar to talk discuss being the first woman and person of color to join Cresco Labs' board of directors. Roberts has also been instrumental in the return of the NBA season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Tennessee senator is getting behind an effort to reform Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which protects online services from legal liability for what users publish on their platforms.
Louisville's mayor said Friday that one of three police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor will be fired.
Facebook removes Trump campaign ads after Nazi's symbols were depicted. Cheddar's Michelle Castillo reports.
Cheddar's Need2Know Podcast for Fri., June 19, 2020.
Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week as the benchmark 30-year home loan reached a new all-time low.
About 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a historically high number, even as the economy increasingly reopens and employers bring some people back to work.
The Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for 650,000 young immigrants, a stunning rebuke to the president in the midst of his reelection campaign.
Cheddar's Need2Know Podcast for Thurs., June 18, 2020.
