Imagine pouring seven years of sweat into a thriving solar business, finally eyeing that sweet semi-retirement sunset.
Then, almost overnight, federal incentives vanish, fossil fuel subsidies surge, and the company you built from scratch becomes unsellable at a fair value.
That’s the bitter brew one 40-year-old Redditor shared on r/AmItheAsshole. His parents’ Trump vote, he says, helped pull the plug.
Now, after selling his solar firm and taking a lower-paying corporate job, he has drawn a line in the sand: no calls with Mom and Dad until they admit their vote helped fry his future.
Is this tough love or just venting volts? The debate is sparking hotter than a faulty transformer.
The Story
According to his post, the Redditor had built a healthy business installing and maintaining solar systems.
The work was steady, the profits strong, and the future bright under Biden-era clean energy credits. He and his wife even started planning for a semi-retirement by 45.
That dream collapsed when Trump returned to office and quickly rolled back renewable subsidies. The 30 percent federal solar tax credit, originally set to phase out slowly through the 2030s, was axed years early.
At the same time, oil and gas drilling deductions were expanded, with billions redirected from clean energy to fossil fuels.
Within months, orders dried up. Customers who once counted on tax rebates backed out, projects stalled, and banks pulled financing.
Facing a shrinking pipeline, the Redditor sold his company at a loss and took a corporate role in energy consulting. It pays the bills but cuts his income and derails his retirement timeline.
What stings more, he says, is that his parents voted for it. They proudly supported Trump, dismissing climate policy as “woke giveaways,” then brushed off his frustration when the business collapsed.
To him, the refusal to even acknowledge the connection feels like a betrayal. “Until they own the damage, I can’t talk to them,” he wrote.
Expert Opinion
Family dinners turning into political showdowns are nothing new, but this case has sharper edges because policy changes directly gutted his livelihood. Energy experts agree the shift was real.
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) projects U.S. solar deployment will drop by nearly 20 percent by 2030 under the new rules.
Wood Mackenzie analysts have already slashed 2025 forecasts for utility-scale solar, citing both credit rollbacks and new tariffs.
Meanwhile, a Reuters review found that redirecting subsidies toward fossil fuels could cost households an extra $280 a year in higher energy bills by 2035.
So the Redditor’s pain isn’t imagined, it’s backed by hard data. His business thrived because incentives made solar accessible. Remove those supports and the economics crumble, especially for small contractors.
On the personal side, psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula notes that acknowledgment matters in fractured families: “You don’t have to agree on politics, but you can validate the lived consequences.
Denying harm leaves wounds unhealed.” In other words, his parents don’t have to renounce their vote, but refusing to admit its role in their son’s collapse makes reconciliation nearly impossible.
Critics might argue his folks voted values they believed in, jobs in red-state energy towns, skepticism of subsidies, or Trump’s promise of “energy dominance.”
But voting comes with trade-offs. Pretending there are none, especially when the fallout hits your own family, is what keeps the wound raw.
The Bigger Picture
Zooming out, this drama highlights a national divide. Renewables now supply about 22 percent of U.S. power, but federal support is retreating just as climate extremes intensify.
States like California and New York press ahead with mandates, but small solar firms outside those markets face brutal headwinds.
That’s where politics meets the personal. The Redditor isn’t just mad at his parents’ choice, he’s grieving a future he planned for years.
His silence is less about punishment and more about drawing a boundary. As he put it, “I need space until they stop pretending their vote didn’t cost me everything.”
Experts suggest boundaries like his can be healthy if paired with a willingness to revisit later. Framing it as grief rather than blame, “I lost something important, and I need time”, may eventually open a door.
But for now, the disconnect remains stark: a son watching his livelihood collapse, and parents who call it coincidence.
Here’s what the community had to contribute:
Many sided with the Redditor, saying his parents’ denial made his boundary fair.
Others warned that freezing out family forever could backfire, especially when politics shift every four years.
Some even shared their own stories of losing renewable energy jobs after the rollback, calling his pain “too real.”
One man lost a business, a retirement plan, and some trust in his parents, all because of political choices he believes they refuse to own.
Is his silence a justified act of self-preservation or a harsh punishment that risks permanent estrangement? Could a calmer path, like sharing data over coffee, bridge the gap, or is space the only safe choice?
Either way, his story shows that elections don’t just decide laws. Sometimes, they redraw the lines between family and future.
