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).
GLAAD CEO and president, Sarah Kate Ellis, on the need for more LGBTQ support amid the groundbreaking SCOTUS decision upholding workplace civil rights law for LGBTQ Americans.
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that the drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are unlikely to be effective in treating the coronavirus.
Driven by a rare urgency, Senate Republicans are poised to unveil an extensive package of policing changes that includes new restrictions on police chokeholds and other practices.
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.
In its semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress, the central bank said that the COVID-19 outbreak was causing “tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed into law a sweeping package of police accountability measures that received new backing following protests of George Floyd's killing.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined Cheddar to discuss the details of the investigation into the price-fixing of generic drugs.
What exactly "defund" means in practice varies depending on who you're asking, but the broader goal is simple: funnel money away from law enforcement into other public programs.
The problem of homelessness continues to get worse in Los Angeles County. The number of homeless people counted over the past year jumped nearly 13% to more than 66,000 and officials fear another spike due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
As Twitter waded into controversy for taking steps to fight misinformation and controversial remarks from perhaps its most famous tweeter, President Donald Trump, Facebook has taken the opposite tack, but with no less backlash.
