Gore defends Trump solar tariffs decision

[DonViejo]

Source: Politico




By AYANNA ALEXANDER 01/25/2018 09:50 AM EST

Al Gore and President Donald Trump might disagree on many things, but the former vice president defended the Republican leader Thursday on his administration's recent decision to impose new tariffs on solar imports.

“I don't typically defend him. [But] I will say, in this case, it really did not start with him,” Gore said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “This was a trade action brought by private companies. They chose a kind of midpoint in the range of alternatives. ... It could have been handled differently, should have been handled differently, but it's not an utter catastrophe.”

Trump is also in Switzerland to participate in the annual gathering, which draws the world's wealthiest people.

Trump on Monday announced new 30 percent tariffs on solar panels, less than the 50 percent barrier he could have imposed under U.S. law. The move was seen as an attempt to satisfy his "America First" rhetoric without risking thousands of jobs that could have been eliminated if the U.S. lost access to cheap solar panels.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/25/al-gore-trump-solar-tariff-367530

[mr_lebowski]

1. Ummmm ... okay ...

[underpants]

17. ✅ stealing this

[slumcamper]

27. Actually, Gore may have made a brilliant move

Derided as "AlGore," he has become a bit of a lightning rod for the right-winger climate science deniers.


So...when he comes out in FAVOR of 45's policy (regardless of whether he truly believes it is good), imagine the dissonance that the fringe element must be feeling.

It wouldn't surprise me if DJT suddenly changed his mind on this.

[mr_lebowski]

28. Could be ... I'd like it to be so ... AlGore is a smart mofo ... whom I

[montanacowboy]

2. Al - please shut up

just what we don't need, Dems praising this bag of pus

[Stryst]

7. You could be banned for that statement, and it technically breaks the rules

The only post I've ever had removed from DU was posting a story here from Florida about Debbie Wassermann-Schultz. It was unfavorable, though provably factual, and I had that post removed and was told that I was harming the party.

Al Gore is a former member of the party, and the interpretation of the rules seems to be that they're above reproach. Even if a member of the party votes to continue using cluster munitions in areas with civilians, we're not allowed to criticize.

[Hortensis]

10. It breaks the rules factually, in spirit and "technically."

[Irish_Dem]

11. If I violated the rules, even unintentionally, I should be banned. nt

[kiri]

20. It's like civil disobedience.

[Irish_Dem]

12. I understand and please feel free to ban me if I have violated the rules.

That is as it should be.

[Stryst]

23. Honestly, I don't think that you should be.

I disagree with what you said above, but I personally think that some of the rules about criticizing members of the party come off just a touch cultish. My original point was really meant as a friendly tap on the shoulder and a warning that heads might start bobbing.

[burnbaby]

21. I wondered why

I got an email from DU threatening to terminate me. I expressed and opinion, I was factual, but didn't realize I was breaking the rules

ok, DU I got it now
PEACE

[Hortensis]

9. I welcome this truth from an expert, and so should you.

At least, IMO. I certainly don't want experts keeping good information we need from us.

Btw, the header is misleading. Gore didn't defend Trump's decision, one fed to Trump by industry. He said it wasn't the decision that should have been made but was not a catastrophe either.

[not fooled]

4. But

as Thom Hartmann pointed out recently, the tariffs last for only four years. No one will build a plant--which is capital intensive--in the U.S. with the uncertainty that in 4 years the situation could change drastically.

dump is just catering to the kooks and other oiligarchs.

Solar is powerful enough to overcome obstacles but it's a significant handicap.

[OAITW r.2.0]

14. Exactly right.

The purpose of these tarrifs is to kill solar power as a direct threat to the extraction energy industry (Coal, Oil, and Gas). Solar is a growth industry that requires a lot of labor to build systems, sell them, and install/maintain them. It is truely a decentralized, labor intensive growth industry.

Trumplicans have sold out another avenue of middle-class growth to their financial benefactors who run these industries.

Sure China is manufacturing tons of these panels and are "dumping" their cells into the US market, undercutting US silicon cell manufacturers....but that shipped a long time ago and why not use the solar tech building blocks to drive higher tech solutions? China gets it...Solar/Wind is the future, the very health of the Chinese people needs this solution. The whole world does.

[groundloop]

5. "This was a trade action brought by private companies" - can someone explain this?

I haven't had time to look into this in any depth, this statement sounds as though there were some companies complaining to 45* and he took this action to make them happy. Is there more to it than that?

[Fred Sanders]

16. Two major solar American companies went bankrupt and filed a complaint

with the American trade association responsible for tariffs...this was in Obama era and was also being considered then.

[msongs]

22. both of these "American" companies are foreign owned says what Ive read nt

[OKNancy]

6. He didn't praise him, he just said it wasn't a catastrophe

From other readings, they costs won't jump that much

[mac56]

8. Misleading headline.

[PatSeg]

13. Yes

That happens a lot and is really annoying.

[withoutapaddle]

25. Very nt

[OAITW r.2.0]

15. Why would Gore say this?

Maybe because Trump will immediately glom on to this statement and embrace Gore's words with great praise? Then, Gore can further explain his position on the US need to increase our alternative energy.

Gore's position seems counterintuitive, given his past commitment to solar energy. Looking forward to hearing why Al thinks this will truly benefit our independent energy future.

[Oneironaut]

18. Tariffs are a universally awful idea, imo

Protectionism should stay in the dustbin of History.

[Pluvious]

19. There seems to be a lot more to consider...

None detest The Groping Donald more than I, well maybe second to his wife at least.

But this piece does look at this one issue from a few angles worth considering:

http://theweek.com/articles/750306/praise-trumps-solar-panel-tariffs

[marble falls]

24. Anybody remember when President Obama got smeared trying to help an American company....

making solar panels with tax breaks? Solyndra.

https://ourfuture.org/20120926/the-phony-solyndra-solar-scandal

you push back on the latest whipped-up, anti-green, anti-government, anti-Obama “scandal.”

Solyndra

Solyndra was a startup solar-power equipment manufacturer based in Fremont, California that went bankrupt at the end of August. The company’s solar collectors used a special tubular internal design that let it collect light from all directions, and were made with a copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) thin film that avoided using then-expensive silicon. It was one of several companies that received assistance from the government, in an attempt to push back on China’s strategic targeting of green-energy manufacturing.

The company, partly backed by the conservative Walton family had received a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. The loan, which was originally pushed by the Bush administration, was 1.3% of the DOE portfolio.

The economy tanked and cut demand, and at the same time Solyndra could not compete with subsidized companies located in China as they rapidly scaled up. So Solyndra ran out of money. Conservatives and oil interests are using the bankruptcy as a platform to attack green energy and the idea of green jobs in general, solar power in particular, President Obama as always, stimulus funding and the idea of developing a national strategic industrial policy to push back on China and others who have their own national policies to win this key industry of the future.

Conservative Attacks

Conservative are accusing the Obama administration of corruption in choosing Solyndra to receive a government loan guarantee. The typical conservative-outlet story follows a template of Glenn-Beckian accusations that someone “connected to” Obama has “ties” to something. When you hear the phrasing “has ties to” you should understand this as code-speak for “has nothing to do with but can be made to appear to have some sinister involvement if you twist the wording a certain way.”

Example template story: Bankrupt solar company with fed backing has cozy ties to Obama admin,

A solar energy company that intends to file for bankruptcy received $535 million in backing from the federal government and has a cozy history with Democrats and the Obama administration, campaign finance records show.

Shareholders and executives of Solyndra, a green energy company producing solar panels, fundraised for and donated to the Obama administration to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Tulsa billionaire George Kaiser, a key Obama backer who raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for the president’s election campaign, is one of Solyndra’s primary investors. Kaiser himself donated $53,500 to Obama’s 2008 election campaign, split between the DSCC and Obama For America. Kaiser also made several visits to the White House and appeared at some White House events next to Obama officials.

Campaign finance records show Kaiser and Solyndra executives and board members donated $87,050 total to Obama’s election campaign.

And now, just two years after securing a half-billion-dollar federal loan, Solyndra has said that it will declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

[dchill]

26. Trump's Tariff Still Sucks.

That's the headline AND the story.