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).
With a vote of 97-2, the Senate passed a bill Tuesday that will fund the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund through 2090.
Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans are protesting in the streets of San Juan, calling for embattled governor Ricardo Rosselló to resign. Victoria Leandra, Journalist and Producer at VICE News, joined Cheddar to discuss the latest.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, July 23, 2019.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, July 22, 2019.
*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.*
TripAdvisor, a leading recommendations platform for global tourism, came under fire last week from Amnesty International for its scores of listings in Israeli settlements in the Palestinian occupied territories.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, July 19, 2019.
Following Iran's seizure of a foreign oil tanker and the U.S. shooting down an Iranian drone, Rep. Khanna is concerned about the alarming escalation between the two nations.
Rapper A$AP Rocky and two of his companions are currently being held in Sweden after an altercation in the city of Stockholm, but the hip-hop star's Congressman Adriano Espaillat believes race is a factor at play in the detention.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, July 18, 2019.
