[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 24, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2641-S2643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Solar Energy

  Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, for years, solar power has been a growing 
source of clean, low-cost energy and economic development in my State 
of Nevada, in States across our Nation, and surely in States like the 
Presiding Officer's, in California, but Nevada currently has the 
largest solar economy in the country, with the most solar jobs per 
capita--per capita--of any State.
  Supporting solar energy creates American jobs, and these jobs are 
helping us to transition to clean, renewable energy. Our domestic solar 
industry is made up of more than 10,000 businesses, large and small, 
located in every single State, employing over 250,000 American workers. 
But, at this moment, the American solar industry is at risk. All of the 
progress we have made to transition to clean energy and dramatically 
lower energy costs for American families is at risk. Hundreds of 
thousands of good-paying solar jobs are at risk because of a Department 
of Commerce investigation into imported solar panels.
  Our domestic solar industry's success depends on a steady supply of 
solar panels to install. If we don't have the panels to install, we do 
not have--we just don't have--a domestic solar industry. Unfortunately, 
solar panel manufacturers in the United States can only meet the needs 
of 15 percent--15 percent--of American solar projects. That leaves 85 
percent of solar projects without any access to solar panels, and this 
requires--requires--importing solar panels.

  And let me make something very clear. I 100 percent support ramping 
up domestic solar manufacturing so that someday all of our solar panels 
and cells can be made in the United States, and I have introduced a 
bipartisan bill with Senator Jerry Moran to do just that. However, 
today, we simply do not have the capacity or the capability to 
manufacture enough panels to meet demand or to support the hundreds of 
thousands of American workers--many in union jobs--whose livelihoods--
well, they depend on access to available, affordable solar panels.
  Utilities across the country, and especially in the southwestern 
States, are shifting to renewable solar energy. They have already hired 
workers and in many cases have made multimillion-dollar investments to 
do so. These are good-paying jobs, which often require special 
expertise to install and maintain our solar installations.
  But since the administration's investigation was launched, there have 
been widespread reports of project cancellations and layoffs. It has 
thrown the entire solar industry into uncertainty, and it is 
threatening jobs. It is setting us back on our clean energy goals, and 
it is just sending--well, sending the wrong message to our communities 
as they plan for their infrastructure investments.
  One industry report states that as a result of the solar freeze, over 
80 percent of American solar companies--I want to repeat that--over 80 
percent of American solar companies are facing cancellations; they are 
facing delays on all the materials that they need. Projects are on 
pause, companies are facing closure, and American jobs--people's 
livelihoods--they are in jeopardy.
  Earlier this month, the State of Indiana announced that, due to the 
investigation, it will not be able to complete its solar projects on 
time and will have to keep its coal-powered plant opened several years 
longer than initially planned. They won't be able to complete their 
solar panels in time.
  And in my State of Nevada, NV Energy, the State's largest power 
company, has said that this investigation is causing massive 
disruptions to multiple Nevada solar projects that would provide low-
cost--low-cost--power to more than 114,000 homes. This is hurting 
President Biden's own clean energy goals. It is reversing our progress 
toward clean, renewable energy.
  I have highlighted all this in bipartisan letters that I have led to 
the Department of Commerce and to the White House signed by nearly a 
quarter of the Senate, including many of the colleagues you are going 
to hear from today.
  If the Department of Commerce continues down the path we are on and 
enacts additional and retroactive solar tariffs, more than 100,000 
American jobs could be lost. Hard-working families across this country 
will feel the pain of this decision that will cause energy costs--they 
are going to cause energy costs to go up.
  Americans are already getting squeezed at the gas pump, facing 
historic inflation, and paying more for groceries. We cannot allow home 
energy costs to increase as well.
  The administration--they can prevent this outcome and quell the panic 
in the solar industry by swiftly bringing the Department of Commerce's 
misguided investigation to an end.
  I understand and respect the Department of Commerce's need to be 
thorough in investigating any claims of unfair trade practices, but as 
I have been pointing out, this petition is built upon a house of cards. 
The petition for the investigation was brought by one--one single solar 
company relying on data from researchers who say the company's claims 
are wrong and that the claims and the complaint do not accurately 
reflect their research.
  We cannot let this one single company use data in a misleading way to 
destroy hundreds of thousands of American jobs. We must support and 
build our U.S. solar manufacturing, and I stand ready to work with all 
my colleagues to make that possible. But there are supply needs that 
need to be met right now, and we cannot simply build our domestic solar 
manufacturing overnight. This is not an either-or situation. We need to 
do both. American jobs are on the line. We need a resolution.
  So I call on the Department of Commerce and the White House again to 
use every resource at their disposal to expedite this process and get 
American solar--well, let's get us back on track.
  President Biden, we need action today; not next week, not next month, 
or later this summer. Hundreds of thousands of American solar workers, 
their families, our communities, they are counting on you.

[[Page S2642]]

  Today, we will hear from several of my colleagues on this critically 
important issue, and I look forward to hearing from them about how we 
can continue to work together to save American jobs and protect our 
climate future.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President, I, along with my colleague Senator 
Rosen, am pleased to be able to speak out today. We have both been 
working throughout our time here in the U.S. Senate to support Nevada's 
booming renewable energy industry, including our solar sector for so 
many of the reasons that my friend and colleague Senator Rosen 
highlighted right now.
  There is one thing that is important to also understand, and I want 
to put this in perspective. In 2020, I helped to secure extensions of 
the investment tax credit and the residential renewable energy tax 
credit for solar so that we could increase private sector investments 
in this critical sector.
  What has happened is, with this investigation--and don't get me 
wrong, and I think all of my colleagues feel the same way--that under 
the statute, under the code, the Commerce Department has every right to 
investigate this circumvention petition. That is not the issue that, 
for me, we are coming here today. What we are asking the administration 
to do, at least from my perspective, is pursuant to that very statute, 
under sub (f), the administrator--in this case, the Department of 
Commerce and their incredible staff, which they do have working on 
this--are required to make a determination within 300 days of the 
petition being filed--within 300 days of the petition being filed. What 
we are asking is for that swift determination to be made.

  Here is why: Because we know in our State, and what I am hearing from 
so many of the industry in my State, it is having a chilling effect 
from us moving forward and being able to move forward to, quite 
honestly, achieve this administration's goal of aggressive 
decarbonization targets for this country and for our future.
  What I do know is this: Because of the chilling effect it is having 
during this period of investigation, there are a couple of things that 
are happening. In the solar industry right now, everything is on hold. 
There are concerns that, depending on how the outcome of this 
investigation rolls out, there could be retroactive tariffs applied to 
these solar industries, more costs to these solar industries. So, of 
course, any business is going to say, wait, I don't know in the 
industry what the lay of the land is right now, what my costs are going 
to be, so I am going to stop moving forward until I know the results of 
that investigation, because if there are retroactive tariffs, 
retroactive costs to me, I want to be able to know about that as a 
business owner.
  Here is the other thing: Because of this chilling effect, because 
nothing is moving forward, I talked about the fact that we actually 
passed, under the previous administration, in 2020, extensions of the 
investment tax credit and the residential renewable energy tax credit 
for solar. So we gave incentives to the solar industry in 2021 and 
2022, at 26 percent so that we can build up our solar industry; so that 
we can reduce our carbon footprint; so we can meet our decarbonization 
aggressive goals that we had. And then at 26 percent, they are entitled 
to that tax credit from years 2021 to 2022, and then it goes down to 22 
percent in year 2023, down to 10 percent in year 2024 for commercial, 
and 0 percent for 2024 residential. If nothing is moving forward, 
nobody is getting the benefits of that investment tax credit that we 
fought so hard for under the previous administration to move forward 
with.
  Here is what our challenge is in this country: Yes, we are all here 
because we want to move forward with this decarbonization. We want to 
move forward with clean energy. Solar is a way to do that. But we need 
a ramp to get there. We cannot shut off the components, the modules, 
the panels--everything we need. And 80 percent of those panels come 
from outside of this country. We cannot shut it down overnight and 
expect our small solar manufacturing companies to achieve the capacity 
that we need in this country to continue to move forward. So we need a 
longer ramp. We need to figure out, working together, how we make this 
happen, with our ultimate goal being reducing that carbon footprint in 
this country, bringing back that supply chain and building and making 
it in America again, all of those panels, the modules, everything that 
we need for solar. But it can't be done overnight.
  Yes, we have put those investments out there to bring that 
manufacturing here. Yes, we have a new plant going in in Ohio, which is 
fantastic. But I will tell you, that one plant alone isn't enough to 
achieve what we need in capacity for the solar industry in this 
country.
  So as we stand here, what is happening is that nothing is moving 
forward, and we now have a potential of losing out potentially to other 
countries and slowing down a process that we need to reach our clean 
energy goals for this country.
  That is why so many of my colleagues, including in Nevada but across 
the country, are coming up and talking with the administration. What we 
are just asking is for the administration to understand the challenges 
that we are facing right now but at the same time, make a swift, 
determined investigation and action. Do it quickly, quickly, so that we 
can move forward, so that the solar industry has the information that 
it needs.
  Why are we so vocal about this? I will tell you, Nevada's solar 
industry is the largest in the Nation. The industry supports more jobs 
per capita in my State than in any other. Many of those are union jobs, 
and they are on hold right now, and nothing is moving forward right 
now. That is not, I don't believe, the intent of the administration or 
what we have been trying to achieve here at the end of the day as we 
look forward to a clean energy economy.
  I know this industry in my State makes our economy much stronger and 
more resilient. Solar and other renewables help us meet our climate 
goals and enhance our energy independence in this country, which we 
need now more than ever. An investment in renewable energy is lowering 
energy costs for Nevadans across the State.
  Right now, my concern is because of the hundreds of union-trained 
workers whose progress on building out critical solar capacity will be 
at risk if they can't get the material they need to move forward 
quickly--we are slowing down not only the potential to meet that clean 
energy future, but we are slowing our economy, and we are putting too 
many of our good-paying union workers out of jobs right now.
  So my request, and I believe with my colleagues, was that we are 
asking the Commerce Department just to make a swift decision here. Yes, 
they should be doing this. Yes, this is their right under the statute. 
Yes, the circumvention petition is important so that we can prevent any 
type of dumping by other countries and flooding our market. Absolutely, 
I agree. But within the provisions of the trade laws that we have right 
now and the statute, the Commerce Department rightly does the 
investigation, but they can do it quickly. And that is all we are 
asking here.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, this week, the solar industry in this 
country is at something in naval aviation that we call refusal speed. 
Now, what is refusal speed? Refusal speed is the speed at which an 
aircraft continues to pick up speed on its takeoff roll or abandon, 
abort that takeoff roll and remain on the ground. That is what refusal 
speed is.
  In recent years, America's solar energy industry has been rolling 
down the runway, picking up speed every day. Unfortunately, there are 
forces at large today that threaten to abort the takeoff roll and 
ground this vital industry.
  Today, I join my colleagues in rising to express our grave concerns 
about a challenge that threatens to bring the solar industry to a 
halt--to a halt--not from climate change deniers but from our own 
Federal Government.
  As we speak, Mr. President, the U.S. Commerce Department is 
investigating whether solar energy products coming from Malaysia, 
Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia should be subject to the same tariffs 
as are currently in place for products coming here from China. This 
investigation is currently freezing access to these products for 
American businesses that import and deploy

[[Page S2643]]

them across our country, and the threat of astronomical tariffs looms 
large.
  As a result, a number of our colleagues are deeply concerned about 
the impact of the Commerce investigation not only on the solar industry 
but also on our ability to combat the climate crisis and meet President 
Biden's bold climate goals. We are already in danger of running out of 
time to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I know that. The Presiding 
Officer knows that. All our colleagues realize that. Now this 
investigation threatens to create an unforced error--an unforced 
error--in our commitment to protect our planet. We don't have time for 
an unforced error. We are not waiting for the climate crisis to arrive; 
the climate crisis is here, and it is here now.
  Without bold action, our country and our planet will continue to feel 
ever more devastating impacts. Already, in the last year alone, we have 
witnessed wildfires burning millions of acres in California, Montana, 
Arizona, and other Western States--fires as big as my State. The same 
hurricane that knocked out access to power and water for a million 
people in Louisiana and Mississippi then went on to produce flash 
floods in New Jersey and New York. People there actually drowned in 
their basements, unable to escape the torrent of floodwater.
  To prevent further devastating, irreversible effects of climate 
change and protect our planet for future generations, we need to 
continue transitioning our Nation and our planet away from fossil 
fuels. Among other things, we should be doing everything in our power 
to lift up innovators in the solar industry, to boldly cut emissions 
from our power sector, and to attack this climate crisis head-on. But, 
unfortunately, the Commerce Department's investigation threatens to 
hamstring one of the strongest weapons in our fight: clean renewable 
energy.
  The prospect of as much as a 250-percent tariff on solar products 
will have an immediate, disastrous impact on a leading renewable energy 
source for our Nation. Effectively, we would be punishing the very 
green industry that is helping to lead the charge to curb emissions and 
further reduce our Nation's reliance on fossil fuels.
  We would be punishing the hundreds of thousands of Americans who work 
in the solar industry. In fact, the Solar Energy Industries Association 
estimates that this investigation currently underway threatens 70,000 
jobs between now and 2025--70,000 jobs. But more than that, we have 
heard from businesses in the solar industry that say that the very 
threat of these tariffs is already freezing imports needed to build 
solar infrastructure and bolster our defense against the climate 
crisis.
  The idea that solar companies may have to sit around waiting for 
January 2023 to come around just to see if industry-rocking tariffs 
will be announced--that alone is destabilizing. It is worse than 
destabilizing; it already risks bringing investments to a standstill, 
while adding uncertainty to the solar market and pushing utility 
companies to slow their transition away from fossil fuels out of fear 
for a change in American climate priorities, because that is what is at 
stake here. What do we value? Are we committed to a clean energy 
future, a transition to a 100-percent carbon pollution-free electric 
sector by 2035 and to protecting American jobs and lives from an 
impending climate crisis or are we OK with the status quo, with holding 
back our renewable energy prospects and continuing to let politics 
dictate our planet's future?
  Across this Nation, Americans are feeling the effects of climate 
change in every storm surge and every coastal flood. We certainly see 
that in my home State of Delaware. We are the lowest lying State in 
America. The seas around us are rising. My State is sinking. Americans 
across the country are ready to do whatever it takes to save our planet 
and create a ton of jobs at the same time.
  I implore the Biden administration to swiftly expedite its 
investigation rather than drag this process out and add to the 
uncertainty of businesses across our country and to rule out 
retroactive, job-killing tariffs in the process.
  In this moment--in this moment--we have to act with greater urgency 
to drive down emissions. In this moment, we have to unleash the power 
of American clean energy. In this moment, we need to protect our planet 
for generations to come.
  To fall short of our commitment would be to let down all of those who 
inherit this planet from us. Make no mistake, future generations will 
look back at this critical moment in our Nation's history to see what 
we did when our planet was on the line. Heaven forbid they look back 
and see that our own hand--our own hand--forced this error.
  Again, I implore this administration to end this investigation, lift 
up the solar industry, and help us meet our Nation's climate goals.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.