New Economy Forum
Walmart's Zeal for Green Power Meets a Coal-Loving President
- Retailer’s 2025 targets face hurdles if renewable costs rise
- Trump may want to subsidize troubled coal and nuclear plants
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The plan laid out by Walmart Inc. was bold and startling: One of the biggest private electricity users in the U.S. promised to get half its power from solar and wind by 2025. If successful, Walmart would leap over Google to become the world’s top green-energy buyer.
That was Nov. 4, 2016. Days later, Donald Trump was elected president, and soon green energy was under attack while coal was lauded. Taken together, Trump’s proposals could make renewable power more expensive -- raising hurdles for Walmart, a company that progressives love to hate but that has a decade-long commitment to clean energy.