TRUMP’S
WAR ON
SOLAR
S
OLAR POWER’S great leap forward over
the past decade has been stunning.
Solar energy can now supply nearly
14 million homes in the U.S., up from
fewer than 800,000 in 2010, and the
price for solar generation has plunged
by 90 percent. Over the same time,
our solar workforce — primarily in-
stallers — has more than doubled, to nearly
250,000. Southern states like Florida, South Car-
olina, and Texas are starting to realize their solar
potential, ranking behind only California in new
installed capacity last year, when solar accounted
for nearly 40 percent of new electrical produc-
tion nationwide. “Today, solar is cheaper than
pretty much any other power technology you
can install,” says Jigar Shah, the founder of Sun-
Edison, who now helms the green-investment
firm Generate Capital.Solar’s growth is no thanks to President
Trump, who has used the powers of his presi-
dency to champion fossil fuels — his latest budget
request includes $500 million for clean-coal re-
search — while mocking climate change and pull-
ing America out of the Paris Agreement. When
it comes to renewables, Trump habitually blasts
“ugly” windmills, which he falsely claimed cause
cancer. And he’s used high tariffs and his budget
authority to slow the deployment of solar. The
administration is creating “speed bumps,” says
Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the Solar Ener-
gy Industries Association (SEIA). California’s en-
ergy commissioner prefers a different metaphor:
“It’s a great example,” says David Hochschild, “of
us shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Trump’s hobbling of solar is particularly griev-
ous because it has the rare ability to bypass par-
tisan fights about global warming. AmericansCLIMATE CRISIS
across the political spectrum have embraced
rooftop solar as a way to lower their electrical
bills and survive blackouts and superstorms.
For many conservatives, solar-energy auton omy
is appealing. “Solar provides some choice from
being tethered to these government-created mo-
nopolies,” says Debbie Dooley, who leads the
Green Tea Coalition, an offshoot of the Tea Party.
“Solar equals freedom.” In a rare mark of polit-
ical unity, the federal tax credit that offsets the
costs of installing solar panels enjoys support
from 89 percent of Americans — including 83
percent of Republicans.
If we have any hope of significantly confront-
ing the climate crisis, solar is a linchpin technol-
ogy. In the U.S. alone, solar deployment has al-
ready reduced carbon output by the equivalent
of planting 1.3 billion trees. Mark Jacobson, a
professor of engineering at Stanford University,
has modeled how America can reach zero emis-
sions by 2050 with massive deployment of exist-
ing solar and wind technologies. Following his
road map, America would need to install 2,000
gigawatts of solar by 2050 — a huge leap from our
current 75 gigawatts of U.S. capacity.
Closing the gap would require year-over-year
growth of 36 percent, but even the most optimis-
tic projections from the solar industry today are
running at half of that. At that rate, “you’ll even-
tually transition everything, except it will be too
slow,” Jacobson says. “If you really want to solve
the problem,” lawmakers need to pursue a solar
revolution like “you’re in World War II.”
Instead of putting the country on a war foot-
ing against climate change, Trump has gone to
war with solar, obscuring his attack within his
broader trade hostilities. Asian countries lead
the world in solar-panel production, and U.S.
manufacturers have long cried foul about state-
subsidized foreign factories dumping their over-
production here. (Solar installers, by contrast,
welcomed the influx of cheap panels that boost-
ed their businesses.) In early 2018, the Trump
administration imposed steep tariffs on for-
eign solar panels. Trump’s tariffs are estimated
to have blocked 10.5 gigawatts of solar capac ity
from coming on line, enough to power 1.8 mil-
lion homes with carbon-free energy, according
to the SEIA. U.S. prices for solar panels are now
among the highest in the world.
At the tariff signing ceremony, Trump high-
lighted the hardships of domestic solar manu-
facturers. “Our companies have been decimat-
ed,” he said. And he promised that the solar
tariffs would mean “those companies are going
to be coming back strong,” adding that tariffs
would translate into new opportunities for “a lot
of workers, a lot of jobs.” In reality, the Trump
taxes have put tens of thousands of AmericansBY TIM DICKINSON
Expanding access to renewable energy
is the key to a future free of fossil fuels.
So why are we moving so slowly?76 ROLLING STONE