Illinois is well positioned to gain from the growth of the solar industry. Our state benefits from a large concentration of physicists who could make us a hotbed of innovation in semiconductors — the heart of solar technology. With nearly 700 resident physicists, we rank eighth in the country and tops by far among the Midwest states. And our pipeline is growing. In 2015, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Chicago turned out more than 100 physics grads, while the University of Illinois-Chicago and Illinois Institute of Technology each added another 30. Unfortunately, through withdrawing from the Paris climate accord and his other energy policies, President Trump is attempting to pick winners — favoring declining resources over the growing market for renewables.