Trump will throw US clean power into question
Al Jazeera
Donald Trump’s election sent clean energy stocks tumbling, and some firms have paused investments.
The recent re-election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States has dented clean energy prospects in the country. A climate sceptic, Trump has promised to turbo-charge America’s fossil fuel sector and to end offshore wind projects on “day one” of his presidency.
On the campaign trail, he repeatedly criticised President Joe Biden’s flagship climate bill – the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). He called the $370bn federal programme a “green new scam”, and pledged to “terminate” it.
Some clean energy projects – both planned and ongoing – have been halted, including Canadian solar manufacturer Heliene, which paused a $150m plan to manufacture solar cells in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The election sent renewable stocks tumbling. NextEra, America’s largest clean energy company, fell by 5 percent. Plug Power – a hydrogen fuel cell developer – shed a fifth of its value, while solar company Sunrun dipped by almost 30 percent.
“Stock prices fell because the market expects less policy support for clean energy,” says Derrick Flakoll, North America policy associate at Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).
