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U.S. EPA Employees Protest Trump’s Pick to Run Agency
Former and current employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency expressed opposition to President Donald Trump’s pick to run the agency on Monday – in an open letter and a small street protest – reflecting divisions over the new administration’s plans to slash regulation. Over 400 former EPA staff members sent a letter to the U.S. Senate asking it to reject the nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as the agency’s new leader, saying “he has shown no interest in enforcing environmental laws.” [ read more … ]
Offshore Wind Moves Into Energy’s Mainstream
It is precisely the size, both of the projects and the profits they can bring, that has grabbed the attention of financial institutions, money managers and private equity funds, like the investment bank Goldman Sachs, as well as wealthy individuals like the owner of the Danish toymaker Lego. As the technology has improved and demand for renewable energy has risen, costs have fallen. And offshore wind, once a fringe investment, with limited scope and reliant on government subsidies, is moving into the mainstream. Europe, too, looks all the more attractive, as the United States under President Trump rethinks its stance on renewables. [ read more … ]
Did You Know Your Favorite Products Are Built With Wind Power?
From Facebook data centers to Tide laundry detergent, America’s favorite brands increasingly have one thing in common: a pledge to transition to 100 percent renewable energy, and they’re choosing wind as a low-risk, reliable solution. A few years ago, Fortune 500 companies started making remarkable shifts in the way they powered their stores, factories and data centers — they took matters into their own hands and began directly buying renewable energy. [ read more … ]
U.S. solar jobs grew 25 percent last year
Jobs in the U.S. solar industry grew 25 percent last year to include more than 260,000 workers, according to a report by sector advocacy group the Solar Foundation on Tuesday.
Solar’s dramatic jobs growth, including its largest annual percentage gain in the six years the Solar Foundation has tracked the data, is a key benefit renewable energy advocates hope will convince President Donald Trump to maintain federal support for solar power. [ read more … ]
Solar Energy Created 1 In 50 New U.S. Jobs. Now It’s Bracing For Trump Cuts.
President Donald Trump promised to spur a hiring renaissance after he won election last year by bulldozing regulations he says stymie economic growth. Yet he has vowed to strip tax incentives from an industry that, according to figures released Tuesday, created one out of every 50 new jobs in the United States last year, up from 1 in 83 a year earlier. The solar industry, by all accounts, is booming, according to the new National Solar Jobs Census, an annual report released by the nonpartisan Solar Foundation. Solar energy companies employed 260,077 workers in 2016, an increase of more than 51,000 jobs. That’s slightly more than the natural gas industry, and more than double the coal business. [ read more … ]
Utah solar industry gives up fight over tax credit for rooftop installs
Utah State lawmakers and officials from Utah’s solar industry have reached an agreement for phasing out tax credits for residents installing rooftop arrays, partly by increasing those incentives while they are still available. Many said they have mixed feelings about the compromise to eliminate the tax breaks by 2021, which emerged this week on Capitol Hill and is now headed to a House floor debate.
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Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.