WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jigar Shah, President of the Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE), made the following statement in response to SolarWorld Chairman Frank Asbeck’s letter to President Obama:
“The chairman of German solar manufacturer SolarWorld Frank Asbeck penned a bizarre and frankly reckless letter to President Barack Obama this week, warning that the U.S. solar industry is in danger because of international trade. CASE agrees that the industry is under threat, but it’s entirely at the hands of Mr. Asbeck and his Germany-based company.
“In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama championed American solar jobs ‘which can’t be outsourced’ because they are installation jobs which take place on America’s rooftops. U.S. solar jobs grew at 6 times the national employment rate in 2013 because global solar manufacturing, like the manufacture of so many of our consumer electronic goods, has made solar power affordable and attractive to American middle class homeowners. The solar industry contributed nearly 20,000 new jobs to the American workforce in 2013; of these only 100 were in manufacturing.
“Like the last effort from SolarWorld in 2012, there is no credible case that tariffs will lead to increased US solar panel manufacturing or employment. It’s critical to job growth in our country that we recognize where U.S. solar jobs are coming from, and what drives their growth. SolarWorld’s reckless trade petition would destroy the demand for affordable solar which is creating tens of thousands of jobs per year. It is irresponsible and frankly contrary to American interests for a German company to suggest otherwise in a letter to the President of the United States.”
