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).
While President Trump and Florida Gov. Rick Scott continue to claim the recount in three tight Florida races is rampant with abuse, state law enforcement authorities say they have no concrete allegation of voter fraud to investigate. Ana Ceballos, politics reporter for the USA Today Network in Florida, updated Cheddar on the latest.
Not many Californians are pleased with President Trump's weekend Twitter response to the wildfires that are devastating parts of California ー especially not Congressman-elect Harley Rouda. Fresh off a victory in California's 48th Congressional District, the newly-elected House Democrat had some choice words for the president during an interview on Cheddar Monday.
Over the weekend, the NRA criticized doctors for advocating for gun control by telling them to "stay in your lane." That was swiftly met with an online movement of doctors sharing their stories of seeing the aftermath of gun violence up close.
Dr. Ana Maria Lopez, president of the American College of Physicians, told Cheddar that physicians live by a code that requires them to address gun violence as a crisis.
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These are the top stories, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
The internet can be a toxic place ー but it doesn't have to be, according to Deepak Chopra. The bestselling author and new age advocate is helping to build a healthier internet through a new Amazon Alexa skill that delivers his daily "intentions." The skill is a result of a partnership with A.I.-provider LivePerson's innovation lab, LivePerson Studios.
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Parkland shooting survivor and March for Our Lives co-founder Delaney Tarr worries people will keep dying at the hands of gun violence until "everyone has a story." "It's that mentality of, 'It's not important to vote on because it hasn't happened to us yet.' But, increasingly, every community in this country is affected by gun violence," she told Cheddar Big News on Thursday. "If we don't start voting on it now like it is one of the most important issues ー because it is ー then people are just going to keep dying."
Americans seem to agree on at least one thing: no one likes a traffic jam — and congestion is at its all-time worst. Transportation was a prominent subject of this year's midterm elections. Election Day hosted over 300 transportation and infrastructure initiatives on the ballot, and on both the state and local levels, a number of newly-elected officials are now faced with the task of shaping that legislation and policy.
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