The U.S. solar industry has unveiled its lobbying strategy for the incoming Trump administration, touting itself as a jobs engine that can help meet growing electricity demand without mentioning its role in fighting climate change, reports reuters.com.
The policy agenda marks a sharp shift in tone for the solar sector, a major beneficiary of the subsidies contained in the landmark 2022 law. on outgoing President Joe Biden's climate change “Inflation Reduction Act” (IRA).
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to repeal the law, a change that would require action by Congress.
US Solar Sector Priorities
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the largest U.S. solar energy trade group, listed its top 10 priorities for the first 100 days of Trump's administration and described solar energy as key to American energy security.
She called on the government to support policies to expand domestic solar production and reduce dependence on China, and called for looser restrictions on infrastructure investment and grid connections for solar projects.
The industry also asked the incoming administration to keep taxes low and support energy choices for consumers.
“Solar power is critical to meeting America's growing need for electricity and powering manufacturing, data centers, cryptocurrency and AI. This is a road map for the Trump administration and Congress to take advantage of strong federal solar and storage policies and achieve their vision of a dominant American energy sector,” said SEIA Executive Director Abigail Ross Hopper.
The document does not mention climate change. In the political agenda that he published in 2020 before Biden's inauguration, SEIA advocated for a price on carbon and mentioned climate change several times. SEIA also did not directly mention tariffs — something it has asked the Biden administration to reduce.
The Biden administration sees solar power as critical to decarbonizing the energy sector to combat global warming.
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