The second inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States took place in Washington, DC, on Monday, January 20, 2025.
Policies on repeat
On Monday evening, Trump also declared a “national energy emergency” designed to reverse the environmental legislation enacted by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
The evening also saw Trump officially withdraw the USA from the Paris climate accord. During his inauguration speech, he called the agreement a “ripoff,” echoing his sentiments from 2017, when he withdrew the USA from the accord during his first term as President.
When the USA’s first withdrawal was finalised in 2020 (before rejoining under Biden in 2021), the country accounted for 15% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Trump seeks to redivert focus back to the USA’s already booming oil industry, stating “We will drill, baby, drill,” in his inaugural speech – citing the policy as a method to decrease energy prices.
What will happen to solar?
A Trump seeks to reverse Biden’s energy legislations, such as the Green New Deal, the solar industry will inevitably be impacted.
As recently as November 2024, Biden honoured Earth Day by introducing the Solar For All federal grant programme, which promised $7bn for residential solar projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
Other policies throughout Biden’s administration included solar as part of its focus on encouraging renewable energy alternatives.
Currently, solar specifically has not been addressed by Trump in his first two days as the USA’s 47th president. However, the wind sector’s future, in tandem with repealing Biden-era climate legislation, may indicate the direction of US solar.
“We aren’t going to do the wind thing,” Trump noted in his inaugural address. On 20 January, the Trump administration issued a temporary withdrawal of government leasing for large offshore wind farms on the Outer Continental Shelf (submerged land, subsoil, and seabed owned by the USA).
However, during the November election debate, Trump maintained ambiguity over his policies towards solar – simultaneously criticising solar’s use of land and stating, “By the way, I’m a big fan of solar.”
Recent successes
- Despite Trump’s criticisms of solar and wind power during the November election debate against Kamala Harris, the USA saw a boost in solar stocks.
- During Q2 of 2024, developers in the USA added 11GW of utility-scale clean power capacity – a 91% increase compared to 2023’s figures.
- The Biden administration allotted 31m acres across 11 states for solar projects in August 2024.
- A report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) in 2024 indicated that battery storage was the second highest contributor of added energy capacity.
- In summer 2024, the Biden administration sent $325m federal funds to reinforce Puerto Rico’s solar and storage infrastructure following electricity outages.
- The US government has made continuous efforts over the last few years to reinforce its home-grown solar industry, with tariffs against solar imports frequently garnering mixed reactions.
