Given Donald Trump’s promises to bring coal back, his being elected President has raised concerns for many about the continued growth in renewables. However, many corporations are doubling down on their commitments to the use of renewable sources of power, including the recent announcements by Walmart and Microsoft.
As pointed out in a Nov. 16, 2016, Bloomberg Business Week piece, “Clean Power Is Too Hot for Even Trump to Cool,” by Matthew Phillips, “if the actions of Walmart and Microsoft are any indication, a Trump administration will do little to dissuade companies from continuing to invest in renewables,” adding “it’s not clear that Trump will try to persuade Congress to repeal the [2021 solar and 2019 wind tax] extensions.”
Phillips’ bottom-line recommendation is that companies “should continue investing in renewables despite Trump’s promise to roll back clean-energy initiatives,” and he points out that 60% of Fortune 100 companies have renewable-electricity or climate change policies, and 81 companies globally have committed to get 100 percent of their energy from renewable sources (see chart for a top 10 company summary).
