Top CBP Official Says a Solar Powered Border Wall May Not Be Far-Fetched

ola olugbemi | October 19, 2017
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One of the biggest questions on everyone’s mind concerning President Trump’s proposed border wall is, "Who's going to pay for it?"

With Mexico repeatedly claiming that they will not spend a single peso on the wall, President Trump hinted at the idea that the border wall could potentially pay for itself -- if, say, solar panels were attached to it.

Business Insider reported that the the president floated around the idea of a solar-powered border wall during a White House meeting with Republican Congressional leaders on June 6.

“There is a chance that we can do a solar wall. We have major companies looking at that. Look, there’s no better place for solar than the Mexico border — the southern border,” he reportedly said.

Now, another top level official involved in the border wall said that idea might not be so far-out.

Mario Villarreal, the newly appointed chief for Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) San Diego field office, told the Washington Examiner Wednesday that he’s looking forward to working with the solar industry in constructing a new border wall, stating:

We've had various types [of barriers] along the border for decades. To finally partner with an industry to get their creativity and ideas, it's certainly refreshing.

 

As MRCTV previously reported, CBP of San Diego has already started a project to build a total of eight prototype walls.

All of this border wall business comes as bad news to people like California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who filed a lawsuit against the construction of the San Diego border wall on the basis that it did not comply with state and federal environmental laws.

However, Becerra’s lawsuit seems a bit misguided, especially considering an MRCTV July report showing that San Diego already has a border fence up and that it actually works in cutting down illegal crossings and crime.

Furthermore, and in an attempt to not overstate what’s already been said, the wall will have solar panels on it.

Doesn’t the left always talk about the need for an increase in sustainable energy? Clean energy consultant Adam Siegel places the wall’s potential energy capacity at 8,431 gigawatts per hour, which could power 0.2 percent of the entire energy supply of the United States.

President Trump gets his wall and his opponents get clean, sustainable energy. Everybody wins.

However, the Department of Homeland Security reports projected that the border wall will cost around $21.6 billion and the solar powered version might only rake in about $106 million annually, meaning it would take a very long time for the wall to actually pay for itself. 

(Cover photo: Hillebrand Steve, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

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