US photo voltaic business downplays local weather in technique for Trump period

(Reuters) – The U.S. photo voltaic business unveiled its lobbying technique for the incoming Trump administration on Thursday, selling itself as a home jobs engine that may assist meet hovering energy demand, with out referencing its function in combating local weather change.

The coverage agenda marks a stark shift in tone for the photo voltaic sector, which is a serious beneficiary of subsidies contained in outgoing President Joe Biden’s landmark 2022 local weather change regulation, the Inflation Discount Act (IRA).

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to rescind the regulation, one thing that may require motion by Congress.

The Photo voltaic Power Industries Affiliation (SEIA), the highest U.S. photo voltaic commerce group, listed its high 10 priorities for the primary 100 days of Trump’s administration and described photo voltaic vitality as key to American vitality safety.

It known as on the federal government to help insurance policies to increase home photo voltaic manufacturing and cut back dependence on China, and urged looser restrictions on infrastructure funding and grid connections for photo voltaic initiatives.

It additionally requested the incoming administration to maintain taxes low and help shopper vitality selection.

“Photo voltaic is important to assembly America’s rising want for electrical energy and offering energy for manufacturing, information facilities, cryptocurrency, and AI,” SEIA CEO Abigail Ross Hopper stated.

“It is a roadmap for the Trump administration and Congress to capitalize on sturdy federal photo voltaic and storage insurance policies and obtain their imaginative and prescient of a dominant American vitality sector.”

The doc didn’t point out local weather change or the IRA. The SEIA didn’t reply to a request from Reuters for touch upon the report.

Within the coverage agenda it launched in 2020 forward of Biden’s inauguration, SEIA advocated for a worth on carbon and talked about local weather change a number of instances.

Biden’s administration considered photo voltaic vitality as important to decarbonizing the ability sector to combat international warming.

SEIA additionally didn’t immediately point out tariffs, one thing it had requested the Biden administration to cut back.

The commerce group has lengthy opposed commerce tariffs that elevate prices for photo voltaic installers, however Trump has pledged to make use of them aggressively as a part of his financial agenda.

SEIA famous in an announcement that U.S. photo voltaic capability grew 128% throughout Trump’s first time period in workplace.

Some priorities haven’t modified, together with requires elevated photo voltaic improvement on public lands, improved grid entry and extra help for home manufacturing.