Solar Power Industry Drops Nationally for the First Time Ever

The United States solar power industry lost 3.8 percent of its jobs, or about 9,800 workers, in 2017, an industry report found. According to the Solar Foundation, activity slowed last year due to factors including policy challenges in some states and uncertainty over Trump administration 30 percent tariffs on imported solar panels, which were announced in January. New Jersey’s solar job growth increased by 17% from 2016 to 2017.

“This is the first time ever that solar has dropped nationally. Trump’s tariff is hurting the solar industry and not helping American companies.  Trump is trying to stifle solar power, but we know the truth. Investors worldwide are realizing the economic and environmental benefits of renewable energy. While there are five times more jobs in clean energy than fossil fuels, Trump is pushing for dirty fuels that threatens our economy and increase greenhouse gasses. This is part of the Fossil Fool plan in the White House to undermine renewable energy while promoting fossil fuels, said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.”

New Jersey’s solar job growth increased by 17% however are still below where they used to be before the Christie Administration. New Jersey has dropped from 2nd to 8th in solar in the nation and currently ranks 14^th in solar jobs per capita. Before Christie, there were 11,000 solar jobs, but now there are only 7,000.

“Christie roadblocked New Jersey’s progress for solar.  He took New jersey out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas initiative, loosing us 1,800 jobs. Instead of moving forward with clean energy, Christie crashing the solar market, cutting solar jobs in half. He then stole $1.6 billion from the Clean Energy Fund to plug holes in the budget, costing 4,000 jobs in energy efficiency and savings on energy bills for business and consumers,” said Tittel.

The foundation’s surveys found that 86 percent of solar companies said tariffs would hurt their businesses, and 71 percent had already felt negative effects from the tariffs in 2017, before Trump even announced his decision.

The Trump Administration is sacrificing smart, clean energy technology to stay on the good side of the fossil fuel industry and it’s shameful. Trump is putting solar in the shade but solar will keep on going no matter what he does,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.  If we don’t move up in solar, we could crash. That is why we need Governor Murphy to fix our solar program and bring New Jersey back to being a leader in solar.