A lot of rumors have been circulating about the Trump Wall and a lot of bids have been submitted.
But the coolest, in my opinion, is the proposal to build a solar-powered wall that will pay for itself! The idea is gaining traction and may become a reality. Donald Trump himself pitched the idea this week, and lawmakers responded in a positive fashion.
“I think it’s innovative,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told the paper. “To authorize it and to appropriate it wouldn’t cost as much.”
“He’s been looking at a lot of options and this is a new option that he’s been looking at that sounds like its got real promise,” House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said.
Here’s more of the story, from Futurism:
President Trump has proposed using solar panels in the construction of a wall along the 3,200 kilometer (1,988 miles) border separating Mexico and America — a key point in his election campaign. According to three individuals who have direct knowledge of the meeting with Republican leaders, Trump claimed he wanted to cover the wall segments with solar panels so they’d be “beautiful structures.”
Trump cited the wall’s economic benefits as well as its environmental ones. Thomas Gleason, managing partner of Gleason Partners LLC, the company that proposed the design, told Business Insider that each solar panel on the wall would produce 2.0MWp per hour of electricity, and, because of this, the wall would pay off the cost of its construction in 20 years through the energy it sells.
The cost of solar panels has decreased rapidly over the last nine years, from around $8 per watt in 2009 to roughly $1.50 per watt in 2016, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, and Gleason believes the cost will continue to diminish over time.
While the bottom of the wall would still be built out of stone, the solar panels situated on the Mexico-facing side would be double tiered, with the upper layer moving to capture maximum sunlight.
See photos here.
Here’s the most current report from FoxNews:
President Trump on Tuesday reportedly suggested that solar panels could offset some of the costs to erect a border wall on the U.S.’s southern border.
Trump made the pitch on Tuesday during a meeting with congressional Republicans, two lawmakers who attended the meeting told The Wall Street Journal.
The details of the plan were still unclear, but the revenue from selling the solar power generated by the panels could help offset some of the construction costs.
“I think it’s innovative,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told the paper. “To authorize it and to appropriate it wouldn’t cost as much.”
Solar panels and other forms of green energy are popular among those who strongly opposed Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris accord, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, most Democrats have been against Trump’s key campaign promise of building a border wall.
“He’s been looking at a lot of options and this is a new option that he’s been looking at that sounds like its got real promise,” House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said.
Trump’s wall hopes to deter the influx of illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Trump had also promised that Mexico would pay for the wall. But after receiving strong pushback from Mexican officials, Trump suggested the U.S. would pay for it upfront and Mexico would pay later.
As of now, Congress has not allocated any money for the construction of the border wall. Cost estimates range past $20 billion, but the White House had been seeking $1.4 billion as a down payment in the recently passed spending bill in order to start the process. Strong pushback from Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle has left the wall’s future in doubt.
Trump said he would be willing to revisit getting money for the wall in September.
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