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).
Fani Willis, the Fulton County District Attorney in Atlanta investigating Trump, is expected to present her case to a grand jury next week.
Former President Donald Trump spoke out against a potential protective order that would prevent him from disclosing evidence in the 2020 election case.
Ohio voters rejected a ballot measure that would make it harder to pass constitutional amendments, including an upcoming vote on abortion.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a national monument designation for the greater Grand Canyon.
The Supreme Court is reinstating a regulation aimed at reining in the proliferation of ghost guns, firearms without serial numbers that have been turning up at crime scenes across the nation in increasing numbers.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has met donor requirements to participate in the first GOP debate.
A special election is underway in Ohio that could affect abortion access.
Thousands of Los Angeles city employees, including sanitation workers, lifeguards and traffic officers, walked off the job Tuesday for a 24-hour strike alleging unfair labor practices.
Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan of Georgia was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury investigating interference in the 2020 presidential election.
Ohio voters have resoundingly rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have made it more difficult to pass abortion protections.
