Political Quotes

“I wish to thank my friend from Rhode Island for his remarks and for his extraordinary effort in fighting for jobs and protecting our environment. If we read some headlines today in the media, we might think, especially the rightwing media, that renewable energy in America is on the verge of collapse. Quite literally--this is quite literally the case. A recent headline from FOX News said: ``Entire solar industry on brink of collapse.'' The reality is quite the contrary. The fact is, not only is the solar industry not on the verge of collapse, the reality is the American solar energy industry is thriving, as is the renewable energy industry more broadly. We have doubled the number of solar jobs in America since 2009. It does not sound to me like that industry is collapsing. It sounds to me like it is doing extraordinarily well. Today, more than 100,000 Americans work in the solar industry, at more than 5,000 companies in every single State in our country, and that includes manufacturing, installation, and supply chain jobs. Mr. President, last year we installed nearly 1,000 megawatts of solar power in the United States--more than double the amount installed in 2009. That doesn't sound like an industry that is collapsing to me. With the solar industry growing at a rate of 69 percent annually, it is one of America's fastest growing industries and is creating jobs all over our country.…”