For all of the crazy concepts that people have come up with for Trump’s border wall, Trump’s own design might just be the most surprising of all. The climate change-Denier-in-Chief recently pitched to congressional Republicans the idea of building a renewable power-generating border wall covered in solar panels. According to Trump, the barriers would be “beautiful structures” that will pay for themselves.
When Trump pulled the US out of the Paris climate agreement, he claimed that it would somehow continue to be the greenest country in the world. According to Axios, Trump intends to do that by proposing a border wall that will generate clean energy. The energy that will be generated by the wall will be used to pay for itself.
Related: Donald Trump would probably hate this crossable border wall
Trump pictures the wall as a 50-foot high structure covered in solar panels. Realistically, a solar wall along the southern border has a lot of logistical challenges, though it could be possible to build a one that pays for itself. During the meeting, Trump told congressional representatives that they could talk about the solar wall as long as they mentioned that it was his idea (it wasn’t).
While this latest concept may be an improvement on the border wall in general, talking about the wall is really just a distraction from the conversation about whether or not there should be a wall at all. On the bright side, at least we know now that Trump thinks solar is a viable and cost-effective technology for government projects, right?
Via GTM
Images via Gleason Partners and Flickr
