Chinese Solar Company Opens US Factory to Avoid Tariffs
This week JinkoSolar held an opening ceremony at its new manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, Florida. The new plant made headlines when it was announced because the Chinese company decided to set up manufacturing in the U.S. in response to the new solar tariffs that are now put on solar panels imported from China. As of now Jinko is the only Chinese-owned solar company to set up shop in the US.
Pilot production at the Jinko manufacturing facility began in November 2018 and has since been steadily ramping up. It expects to be in full production in a couple of months. Once fully operational, the $50 million facility will employ 200 workers and manufacture 400 megawatts of high powered panels annually.
Pennsylvania Steps Up Electric Vehicle Game
Pennsylvania is introducing new policies in order to ramp up the amount of electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed to support them in the state. They aim to create a consumer education program, connect with car dealers to boost electric vehicle (EV) production, and are crafting new legislation to encourage utilities to invest in transportation electrification. Time of use electric rate plans are also being encouraged so consumers charge trend towards charging their EV during the low demand night times.
Kevin Miller, the director of public policy at the electric vehicle charging company ChargePoint, is part of the Drive Electric Pennsylvania Coalition, a collaboration among state agencies, industry, community and academic leaders. He says, “Pennsylvania is in a leadership position around the country. Pulling together all the relevant stakeholders — staff at state agencies, municipal leaders, researchers, advocates — is a critical first step that many other states are just starting to contemplate doing.”
States need to work together to avoid duplicating efforts. Late last year Pennsylvania, along with eight Northeastern states and Washington, D.C., announced plans to create a new regional cap for vehicle emissions. The initiative is still taking shape but will likely include efforts to promote electric vehicles. As states plan together they need make sure the growth in vehicle sales and charging infrastructure does not remain confined to urban areas. Rural areas have been left out in early planning, and they have to be included or else EV drivers could get into trouble when going through areas with no EV chargers around. With all the coordination around the technology, widespread adoption is an exciting horizon that humanity can look and grow towards while leaving fossil fuels in the dust.
New York Takes the Lead in Sustainable Development Posturing
In an address last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo laid out plans for his “Green New Deal,” which includes aggressive mandates and goals for clean energy, money for offshore wind development, and much more. The Green New Deal is included in New York’s 2019 Executive Budget. The plan provides for a transition to clean energy that spurs growth of the green economy and prioritizes the needs of low to moderate income New Yorkers, according to a press release issued by NYSERDA.
The Green New Deal will statutorily mandate New York's power be 100 percent carbon-free by 2040, the most aggressive goal in the United States and five years ahead of a target recently adopted by California. The cornerstone of this new mandate is a significant increase of New York's successful Clean Energy Standard mandate from 50 percent to 70 percent renewable electricity by 2030.
"Climate change is a reality, and the consequences of delay are a matter of life and death. We know what we must do. Now we have to have the vision, the courage, and the competence to get it done. While the federal government shamefully ignores the reality of climate change and fails to take meaningful action, we are launching the first-in-the-nation Green New Deal to seize the potential of the clean energy economy, set nation's most ambitious goal for carbon-free power, and ultimately eliminate our entire carbon footprint." Governor Cuomo said.
The Green New Deal will create the State's first statutory Climate Action Council, comprised of the heads of relevant State agencies and other workforce, environmental justice, and clean energy experts to develop a comprehensive plan to make New York carbon neutral by significantly and cost-effectively reducing emissions from all major sources, including electricity, transportation, buildings, industry, commercial activity, and agriculture.