In a letter to members, Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) President and CEO Rhone Resch expressed devastation at the news that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was critically injured by a gunman on Saturday at an outdoor public event with constituents at a Safeway store in Tucson, Ariz. (The incident killed six people: federal judge John M. Roll, nine-year-old Christina-Taylor Green, Dorwin Stoddard, Phyllis Schneck Dorothy Morris and Gabe Zimmerman, an aide to Giffords. Giffords remains in the hospital in critical condition, with bullet trauma to her head.)
In his letter, Resch praised Giffords as both a strong solar advocate and an admirable public servant.
Giffords has supported and introduced a number of measures designed to promote solar energy in the U.S. For instance, Resch said, she was a ‘key supporter as SEIA pushed for the eight-year extension of the solar investment tax credit and the recent one-year extension of the Treasury Grant Program.’
In addition, Giffords introduced the Solar Technology Roadmap Act, which would dedicate over $2 billion to new research partnerships and demonstration projects for solar energy technologies. She also launched the Solar Power 101 educational series to increase public awareness for solar energy and installed a 2 kW PV system on her Tucson home last year.
SOURCE: Solar Energy Industries Association
