Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Janelle Dumalaon
00:39 Jordan Taylor | GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic
01:55 Joseph Majkut | Center for Strategic and International Studies
02:17 Jordan Taylor | GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic

Script:

As far as solar panel installations go, today’s job is a pretty simple one for this crew. 

0:07 - 0:15
 
UPSOUND +++ 
 “Yeah, they’re getting 17 panels on their roof. We’ll handle the electrical, do the roof work — you probably saw it up there.--  We lay out the rails, drill the penetrations, mount the microinverters, and then set the panels.” 
 +++ 

But the project of enabling solar access for communities is getting harder.  

Under President Joe Biden, the U.S. government set out to give more than 900,000 low- to moderate-income households access to solar power through federal grants and incentives. But the seven billion dollar heavy Solar for All program has since been canceled by the Trump administration.  

0:38 - 0:49

++++SOT Jordan Taylor, Executive Director of GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic+++ 

We have to rely on philanthropic partners or support or other creative means to be able to continue on our mission.//I am confident that it will turn back around. It may take some time, so we won't be holding our breath.

+++

The move is part of the current government’s broader shift away from climate-friendly policies - one that’s seen major clean-energy programs scaled back, emissions rules revoked, and the US once again stepping away from the global climate commitments enshrined in the Paris Agreement.  

But across the country, states, cities, corporations, and advocacy groups are pushing back against the administration, many through lawsuits and legal challenges aimed at keeping climate action alive. 

++++MAP GRAFIK REIN+++ 

STATE OF NEW YORK V TRUMP: In many cases, states have banded together. In one lawsuit, 21 states plus the District of Columbia,  have sued the Environmental Protection Agency over the cancellation of Solar for All.  

State of Arizona v. Environmental Protection Agency: In another, multiple states are arguing in court that the Trump administration acted without proper legal process in halting federal approvals for wind projects. 

+++MAP GRAFIK RAUS+++ 

Those are just some examples. But even as those fights are ongoing, analysts say that what ultimately determines how much the US cuts its emissions may have less to do with the political atmosphere, and more with the economics shaping the energy transition. 

1:54 - 2:08

+++ SOT Joseph Majkut, Director of the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)+++ 

In the face of political reversals, we still have to recognize that the US energy evolution is going to be governed mostly by markets, and in this case, because of the 80 to 90% cost reductions for renewables, in particular solar power.

+++

That’s why Jordan Taylor says they will keep going, regardless of what happens in Washington. 

2:13 - 2:29

+++SOT Jordan Taylor, Executive Director of GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic+++ 

We should be doing it clean for ourselves and then for our future generations. And so that looks like this ((Gestures towards panels)). So to be able to help our community usher themselves into a renewable energy economy. 

+++

For now, the panels keep going up. Nationally, the push toward renewables has slowed -  but shows little sign of stopping, despite the administration’s best efforts.