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 a debate heavy on the topic of Medicare for All versus private insurance, the 2020 Democratic candidates also wrangled about expanding guaranteed coverage to undocumented immigrants on the Detroit stage.
The president's team is in Detroit as Democratic hopefuls flock to the second primary debates, and it's banking on the economic improvements in the Great Lakes State to help him bring home another victory in 2020.
President Trump may be excluded from the nation’s largest primary election after California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law on Tuesday that would require presidential hopefuls to release their tax returns in order to appear on the ballot.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, July 30, 2019.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, July 30, 2019.
The legislation signed by the N.Y. governor will reduce penalties for possession and expunge existing criminal records for hundreds of thousands of residents.
Laura Gómez sat down with Cheddar to discuss the seventh, and final, season of the hit Netflix series, which sees the character she plays, Blanca Flores, navigate an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center.
Michigan Democratic Chairwoman Lavora Barnes encourages presidential hopefuls to take Michigan seriously when it comes to the campaign and not just focus on the early races, like Iowa or New Hampshire.
Residents of Baltimore are working to showcase the best that their hometown has to offer, just days after President Trump attacked Congressman Elijah Cummings and described the city as a "a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess."
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, July 29, 2019.
