According to Inside Climate News, the Trump Administration’s new tariffs on solar panels will have a significant impact in terms of lost jobs in the booming solar business in the US. The Solar Energy Industries Association predicts a loss of “… roughly 23,000 American jobs this year…”
Inside Climate News says “Solar jobs have tripled since 2010 to more than 260,000, according to the Solar Foundation’s most recent National Jobs Census in 2016. In contrast, coal mining employs about 50,500, according to December figures from the Federal Reserve, well below the industry’s recent peak employment of 90,000 in 2012.”
The policy choice defies logic. Conservatives claim that they want to allow the market to operate freely, yet they have imposed tariffs on solar panels while proposing subsidies for nuclear power and coal. This is hardly a level playing field.
Read the full article here.
