Breach of Trust features a backdrop of renewable energy sources found in operation around the state of California. Like many other states, decisions to fund geothermal, tidal, wind, or solar energies among others are made at the local and state level. Since their inception, renewable energy sources have evolved to make economic sense: in the case of residential solar, dollars and cents are being saved by consumers one rooftop at a time.
But what does a Donald Trump administration mean for renewable energy advances and installations?
But what does a Donald Trump administration mean for renewable energy advances and installations?
The likely answer is “not much change,” in spite of his selection of some cabinet ministers – Rex Tillerson and Rick Perry, to name a couple – that are viewed as “pro-fossil fuel.”
Why do I say this?
For at least the following seven reasons:
Why do I say this?
For at least the following seven reasons:
- The Investment Tax Credit (ITC) will not be altered, since this incentive was approved by Congress with bipartisan backing in 2015, and in a fashion that sees it drop from a 30-precent rate to 10 percent in 2022 [1]. Republicans generally support rate reductions in government subsidies and the ITC already has this built in.
- Jobs, Jobs, jobs. Returning manufacturing jobs to America was a big theme for president-elect Trump. Although Trump railed over the loss of coal jobs in places like West Virginia, his rhetoric was targeted at the Obama-Clinton message that renewable energy should replace coal production owing to a better carbon footprint. However, Trump’s business sense demands that energy sources should make economic sense. This stance should reinvigorate the coal industry and continue to see further growth in both solar and wind industries. Besides, solar employs more Americans than coal [2], and Trump’s team will not cut job growth in a robust renewable energy segment.
- Rick Perry, Trump’s choice as energy secretary could be good for renewable energy, at least based on his track record in Texas. One industry follower says, “As governor of Texas, he set a renewables capacity target bill in 2005 and pushed the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones transmission line to spur wind energy, hinting he supports energy when it makes economic sense.” [3] Today, Texas is the nation’s leader in wind energy production.
- Climate change is NOT the main driver for the momentum behind solar and wind projects.
- R&D will continue to flow into the renewable energy sector to find lower-cost and more efficient solutions.
- Solar is part of the anti-establishment movement that Trump leads. Lynn Jurich, CEO and co-founder of residential solar provider Sunrun, argues, “One message I believe you can take from this election is that Americans want to feel they hold their destiny in their own hands. The freedom of getting solar energy from one’s own rooftop is just another manifestation of this . . . Put simply, rooftop solar provides energy choice. It is inherently anti-establishment.” [3]
- Trump’s followers want more clean energy. “[A] December poll that shows 75% of Trump voters support ‘action to accelerate the deployment and use of clean energy.’” [3]
So, a Trump administration will mean more energy jobs across all segments with a roll back of regulations and the monitoring of “green liberalism” that could adversely affect job growth in America.
I wrote in the postscript of Breach of Trust:
“Stories of fiction are often the best way to capture and communicate shifts in societal behavior. As our western civilization begins the twenty-first century, there is great public support for utility operators to accommodate a greater mix of renewable energy generation. Four of those sources of renewable energy supply include geothermal, tidal, wind, and solar power.”
Read this fast-paced work of fiction, laced with facts, and, at the same time, absorb more things about renewable energy resources.
[1] Congress extended the Investment Tax Credit at the 30-percent rate through 2019, the same value that had been previously legislated through to the end of 2015. In 2020, it falls to a 26 percent rate, then drops to 22 percent in 2021 and finally to 10 percent in 2022.
[2] Tom Kimbis, interim president of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) says, “Having over 200,000 Americans employed by solar is no small number, and I think that has been recognized by the Trump team.”
[3] What A Trump Administration Means For U.S. Solar, Joseph Bebon, Solar Industry, January 9, 2017.
So, a Trump administration will mean more energy jobs across all segments with a roll back of regulations and the monitoring of “green liberalism” that could adversely affect job growth in America.
I wrote in the postscript of Breach of Trust:
“Stories of fiction are often the best way to capture and communicate shifts in societal behavior. As our western civilization begins the twenty-first century, there is great public support for utility operators to accommodate a greater mix of renewable energy generation. Four of those sources of renewable energy supply include geothermal, tidal, wind, and solar power.”
Read this fast-paced work of fiction, laced with facts, and, at the same time, absorb more things about renewable energy resources.
[1] Congress extended the Investment Tax Credit at the 30-percent rate through 2019, the same value that had been previously legislated through to the end of 2015. In 2020, it falls to a 26 percent rate, then drops to 22 percent in 2021 and finally to 10 percent in 2022.
[2] Tom Kimbis, interim president of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) says, “Having over 200,000 Americans employed by solar is no small number, and I think that has been recognized by the Trump team.”
[3] What A Trump Administration Means For U.S. Solar, Joseph Bebon, Solar Industry, January 9, 2017.