In all fairness to President Trump, we don’t know exactly what he plans to do about the renewable energy industry in this country. We do know he has made certain that key cabinet positions, including the EPA, Energy and the Interior Departments are headed by people friendly to his climate, environmental and energy policies.
But many states pushing for a greater reliance on renewables, including wind and solar power, are concerned about Trump’s policies. These states also depend on federal renewable-energy tax credits, grants and research that mainly comes from the Department of Energy.
Trump’s pick to head the Energy Department, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is called a “contradictory figure” by ABC News. Besides promoting oil in Texas, he also oversaw a huge expansion in wind-energy production in the state while he was governor.
READ MORE: CHECK OUT OUR TOP STORY ON RENEWABLE ENERGY
While running for president in 2011, Perry included the Department of Energy on a list of cabinet positions he thought should be abolished. He changed his tune on Thursday during his Senate confirmation hearing, disavowing the idea of abolishing the department he was picked to head.
“We don’t know what version of Perry is going to show up,” said Michael Webber, deputy director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas, Austin.
Zachary Shahan, writing for Clean Technica, says Trump’s obstructionist views on climate change and energy will not just put the U.S. at risk from increased pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, but all of human society will be at risk.
The facts on renewable energy in the U.S.
Renewable energy accounts for 15 percent of all the electricity produced in the United States. At the opening of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi on January 15, former president of Mexico Felipe Calderón presented some powerful energy statistics from the U.S. — there are about 70,000 coal mining jobs in the U.S. today and over 200,000 solar energy jobs.
Even while coal accounts for 30 percent of electricity production in the U.S., renewables account for far and away more jobs than coal. And solar power and wind power have both become cheaper than coal power, with almost no new coal power capacity added over the past few years. Instead, renewables and natural gas have dominated new capacity very handily.
Of the 29 states with renewable energy initiatives, many are already on target to meet their energy goals. Most of them say that while Trump’s policies may slow their progress, he will not stop them.
But here’s what is really interesting about the renewables industry — the price of using wind and solar power has dropped so much over the last few years that it is close to being competitive with traditional power sources like coal and natural gas, even without subsidies.
The biggest fear right now is that policies aimed at bringing more wind and solar power online quickly are not expected under the Trump presidency. “We need to be moving faster, not slower,” said Jeff Forward, president of the trade group Renewable Energy Vermont. “I fear we’re tapping on the brakes right now.”
U.S. News pointed out in December that should the United States withdraw from the UN Climate Pact, there is the real threat that a lot of other countries will also withdraw from it, which will be bad for global greenhouse gas emissions. And with Trump’s promise to revive the coal industry, and his promise to butcher the Clean Power Act, it really doesn’t bode well for clean and renewable energy.
