By MICHAEL BASTASCH
Former Vice President Al Gore was quick to criticize President Donald Trump’s declaring an end to the “war on American energy,” suggesting that Trump should pay attention to the growth of the solar industry.
“We have ended the war on American Energy — and we have ended the war on clean coal,” Trump said in his first State of the Union address Tuesday night. “We are now an exporter of energy to the world.”
In response, Gore tweeted that “America should lead on clean energy,” adding that “US solar jobs are growing 17X the average job growth.”
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It’s an interesting reaction, given the Trump administration’s imposing of tariffs on imported solar cells and modules. Solar industry experts say the tariffs will likely make panels — and the energy they produce — slightly more expensive, though it’s hardly the death blow activists warned about.
Gore’s been promoting the solar industry for years, but he actually defendedTrump’s tariff decision at the World Economic Forum. Gore clearly disagreed, but pointed out the decision was somewhat of a compromise.
