Everyone Is In DC, Except. Rick Perry. He’s got his toes in the dunes, butt in the sand while touring Saudi Arabia on his America First Energy tour of the Middle East. As American solar workers are traveling to DC to rally in front of the USTR hearings, which could only accommodate about 100 people, Rick Perry is as far away as possible. If you can’t be in DC tomorrow, make a call to your Congressman/woman and ask them to help with the trade case. It will take a few minutes of your day and make a big impact.
America First Solar Plan. Yesterday morning, in a press conference held in DC, SEIA unveiled its America First Solar Energy Plan. SEIA CEO Hopper highlighted the fundamental risk of tariffs, more solar manufacturing jobs in the US will be lost than gained. Also speaking was the President of renewables at Swinerton and a Sunrun employee who served 5 years in the US Army and is now a disabled combat veteran. SEIA also secured additional messages signed by members of the Senate and House to be forwarded to the US Trade Representative ahead of the hearing later today.
Add Tax Reform. I will be joined by experienced tax and project finance lawyers tomorrow during SolarWakeup Live! in DC to talk about the potential impacts of the tax reform bill currently in conference. The goal is to turn this content around quickly and get it published for you to review. If you have thoughts on good content you want to hear about during our New York event, please send me a note.
A Rigged Game? No surprise here in my opinion but Suniva met with the US Trade Rep office before filing the 201 petition. This seems like they met with the jury before filing a lawsuit. Going from a bad business to bankrupt to corrupt financial engineering in hopes of destroying the solar industry was just another day in the Suniva board room I guess, but that’s just what it seems like from where I sit.
Obama Goes Local. At a climate summit in Chicago, President Obama (come back, we miss you) praised and pushed Mayors to lead the fight on climate change. In Florida, a mayor is running for Governor and a big part of the platform is climate change. Glad to see Obama taking this issue on and lending his platform to Mayors.
SEIA Elected Seats. The SEIA Board has approved the election and notified the winning candidates for the elected seats which complement the board seats gained through membership level. These 5 seats are elected by the membership and is your opportunity to ask folks to carry your issue to the board at SEIA.
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- Boston Globe: Trump casts a long shadow on the solar industry
- Utility Dive: Analysts expect final GOP tax bill will throttle renewable energy
- Axios: Solar energy’s perilous winter
- E&E News: Suniva met with Trump trade officials before seeking tariffs
- Bloomberg: Who Will Fund Clean Energy? Familiar Faces
- USA Today: Obama praises mayors as ‘new face’ of leadership on climate change in Trump era
- Washington Post: Maryland’s largest jurisdiction aims to eliminate greenhouse emissions by 2035
- Maine Public Radio: State Regulators Postpone Reduction In Solar Incentives
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann