Here comes the sun: White House to go solar

[cal04]

Source: Associated Press

Solar power is coming to President Barack Obama's house.

The most famous residence in America, which has already boosted its green credentials by planting a garden, plans to install solar panels atop the White House's living quarters. The solar panels are to be installed by spring 2011, and will heat water for the first family and supply some electricity.

The plans will be formally announced later Tuesday by White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Nancy Sutley and Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

(snip)
"Putting solar on the roof of the nation's most important real estate is a powerful symbol calling on all Americans to rethink how we generate electricity," Solar Energy Industries Association President Rhone Resch said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101005/ap_on_bi_ge/us_white_house_solar_power

[progressoid]

1. k/r

Hope it give Rush a coronary.

[zogofzorkon]

2. It will be interesting to see where the panels were made and whether

union labor installs them.

[pnwmom]

54. DUers won't be happy unless they can criticize Obama for something!

So let's hope it's non-union labor.

:sarcasm:

[speppin]

81. Someone will probably know --they are from 1986.....

Last month, global warming activists with 350.org carried one of Carter's solar panels — which were removed in 1986 — from Unity College in Maine to Washington to urge Obama to put solar panels on his roof. It was part of a global campaign to persuade world leaders to install solar on their homes. After a meeting with White House officials, they left Washington without a commitment.

[speppin]

80. They are from Jimmy Carters era. He had them installed but

Ronny took them down. A group brought them to the WH a few months ago and initially the WH wanted nothing to do with them. I am glad to see them going up again.

[indimuse]

3. YAY!

knr!

[rampart]

4. panels were installed during the carter administration

in a famous symbolic gesture they were removed by reagan.

what was he thinking?

[madokie]

10. With raygun it wasn't what was he thinking

it was what were they thinking as he was only a figure head for the powers to be and those powers to be will remove these solar panels if and when they retake the keys to the Whitehouse.

[sakabatou]

89. Raygun just wanted a space to put a giant laser

[No Elephants]

11. Assuming Reagan did much independent thinking may be flattering hiim excessively. But, if I had to

guess, he was thinking of the oil industry. And of not wanting to give Carter any credibility. Maybe, he was also thinking of how much he owed Iran for holding the hostages until his iauguration, exactly as he asked, so release would techically no ococour during the Carter administration.

Of course, a lot of that reeks at least as much of Lee Atwater as it does of Reagan. .

[valerief]

18. He wasn't paid to think, just spew slogans. nt

[mdmc]

28. wonder why big dog didnt put up panels?

too busy with his DLC Raygun IDOL worship? Or perhaps solar power wasn't big in the 90s?

[sofa king]

53. He was doing what conservatives are always doing:

Building that bridge back to the Nineteenth Century.

Heck, I'm surprised Dick Cheney didn't have the White House converted to a wood gasifier system that ran on Amazon rosewood and the tears of non-white children.

[grace0418]

5. Hopefully the next Republican piece of shit who lives there won't take them down like

Ronnie did. Hopefully there won't be another Republican piece of shit living there for a long time. Although the way people talk around here, I wonder about 2012.

[Rhiannon12866]

72. +1. Agreed...

Here's hoping that the opportunity never comes... :(

[truthisfreedom]

6. Oh this is rich.

I can't wait to see how the thugs respond.

[dorkulon]

7. Expect many Carter comparisons.

...which they were already doing, but this will really lock it in.

[MannyGoldstein]

16. This might be a tremendous milestone, actually

Given that the Carter comparisons will come, I suspect that this move indicates that Obama has finally recognized that kissing up to Republicans will not work: he needs to work with Democrats. Maybe we'll see some change.

[Jackpine Radical]

25. Carter comparisons could really backfire for the Rs.

More people these days think of him in his elder-statesman, Habitat-for-Humanity, Nobel-Peace-Prize associations than for those terrible years of hostage crisis and skyrocketing inflation driven by Saudis trying to get a Republican in office (and make a fine profit while doing so, I might add).

[rhett o rick]

71. Great. Pres Carter is a great human being. Well maybe not to the New-democrats. nm

[w4rma]

8. Awesome! (nt)

[Sienna86]

9. Set the example but help more Americans do the same

I would love to have solar panels. It's still very difficult for most Americans to afford them. I hope I see the day when every building has solar panels.

[BEZERKO]

12. Regan was elected by oil money,

and I think he had the solar panels removed.

[RoccoR5955]

13. About freakin' time!

Reagan took 'em off, leave it to Obama to put 'em back!
Let's make sure that they stay!

[activa8tr]

14. Fox News wants it both ways!!! According to this quote from them...

"Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush both tapped the sun during their days in the White House. Carter in the late 1970s spent $30,000 on a solar water-heating system for West Wing offices. Bush's solar systems powered a maintenance building and some of the mansion, and heated water for the pool."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/05/white-house-install-solar-panels/

AND, they make it look like Obama is "bowing to pressure" and is indecisive. (I KNEW they would find a way!)

"Last month, global warming activists with 350.org carried one of Carter's solar panels -- which were removed in 1986 -- from Unity College in Maine to Washington to urge Obama to put solar panels on his roof. It was part of a global campaign to persuade world leaders to install solar on their homes. After a meeting with White House officials, they left Washington without a commitment."

Bottom line message from Fox News: Obama is just like Bush, and can't get anything done in Congress like Carter.

BOY do I hate Fox News.

[Evasporque]

15. Next Republican will have them removed.

And will install a "clean" coal generator with giant smoke stack and huge coal piles....

[Odin2005]

17. YAY!

:woohoo:

Expect the Pukes to scream "Carter 2! Carter 2!" :eyes:

[donquijoterocket]

38. carter

I've always thought that Carter's main problem was that he was too intelligent and too ethical for the typical murkan voter. His existence felt like a put down to them and they reacted in that manner going as far the other way as the realities of the political system would allow.St. Ronnie the Forgetful was I recall the President who thought you could recall ballistic missiles once launched so it's no surprise he didn't understand PV solar panels or anything more complicated than a fake Hollywood campfire.Coupled with his debt to big oil and energy it's amazing they were only taken down and not demolished in a ceremony on the White House lawn.

[Tafiti]

19. Very interesting development...

Especially in light of this article. Hmm. Change of heart, I guess? Whatever the case, this is good news.

http://www.truth-out.org/my-road-trip-with-a-solar-rock-star-or-notes-enthusiasm-gap63315

[swilton]

20. Hip Hip

Hoorah!!

[Skink]

21. next up Obama starts wearing sweaters.

[blondeatlast]

22. LOl! I remember, I remember! nt

[BumRushDaShow]

23. OMG

That brought back some memories. And to think that back then, the call was to lower thermostats to 68 and people freaked.

Heck - I keep mine at 66 due to hot flashes! :rofl:

[Hubert Flottz]

24. That should just about save the country and create millions of the

jobs we need.

[LanternWaste]

30. Every repair begins with one nail.

Every repair begins with one nail.

[Phil The Cat]

85. Saving the world is not an action

It is a long, slow, painful, endless process! It has to be done in tiny pieces and not as a whole!

But SO many people are waiting for "the thing" that makes everything all better for everyone all at once!

There is no THING! There just IS!

[pnwmom]

57. Proving once again that Obama can't ever do something positive

without drawing unrelated criticism from the naysayers here.

[Hubert Flottz]

62. A band-aid on a sucking chest wound.

Meanwhile our mountains are being blown to pieces and our kids over seas are too.

[grace0418]

74. So you'd be happier if he didn't have the panels installed?

Something tells me no.

[Hubert Flottz]

75. I won't ever be happy again...

Our country is ruined for generations to come...the only really happy people in America are the top 2% who own everything and the neocon war criminals who got away with torture and murder. I don't think putting solar panels on the White House is going to "Change" much for my family.

What I'm trying to say is...I'm not very impressed by political stunts anymore.

[grace0418]

78. I'm sorry to hear that, but I don't agree that the only happy people are the top 2%.

Yes, lots of things really suck in this country and on this planet, but being miserable all the time does nothing to change that. I know plenty of people who are happy about whatever small amount good fortune they have in life, even if it's just the pleasure of a friend's company for awhile. I wish I could be more like them, I tend towards pessimism, but I am trying to change that because it does no good to mope anyway.

I met a friend of my brother's recently. One of the nicest, friendliest people you'd ever want to meet. My brother told me later that just a year ago she lost her husband and teenage son within weeks of each other to two separate freak accidents. Her husband was actually killed by his own mother, she ran him over while he was trying to give her a driving lesson. The son's team bus crashed and he died. In the blink of an eye this woman was left to care for her other son, who has Down's Syndrome, all by herself while mourning the loss of the rest of her family. Yet not only does she get up every morning and get through the day, she does so in the most loving, positive manner. After I heard that story, I try to remind myself pretty often that if she can find a way to be happy, I sure as hell can.

[AtheistCrusader]

90. It's a small start.

Nobody's going to accept it as a distraction from all that is wrong, but it's a tiny step in the right direction.

Change is possible, keep pushing.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

26. nice.

[mdmc]

27. Only 30 years of jocking Raygun has come to an end!

JIMMY CARTER WAS RIGHT!

[bighart]

29. Would love to see a Bloom Box installed as well.

[marmar]

31. Excellent.

nt

[HughBeaumont]

32. LONG overdue.

28 years of Republican presidentin' and they all seemed to forget why loosening our grip from Big Oil is sort of important.

Good Job.

[grahamhgreen]

33. About time! Needs a PR push, as well.

[Javaman]

34. I don't mean to piss in everyones wheaties, but...

the panels have been on the white house for a while.

SOLAR ENERGY IS BACK
AT THE WHITE HOUSE

Since September 2002, a grid of 167 solar panels on the roof of a maintenance shed has been delivering electricity to the White House grounds. Another solar installation has been helping to provide hot water. Yet another has been heating the water in the presidential pool.
http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/solarwhitehouse.htm

Solar Panels on the White House or Just Wind?
George W. Bush quietly had three solar panel systems installed at the Whitehouse, which have mostly gone unnoticed. The solar panels are used to feed electricity to the cabana, for landscaping use and for the Whitehouse grid.
http://www.greentechgazette.com/index.php/alternative-energy/solar-panels-on-the-white-house-or-just-wind/

Solar Panels To Be Installed on The White House

In 2003, President George W. Bush quietly installed a series of three solar systems on the White House grounds, including panels on the pool cabana to help with water heating.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/10/solar-panels-to-be-installed-on-the-white-house.html

[pnwmom]

55. The article mentions that. But they're on the grounds, not the White House itself. nt

[Javaman]

63. Well now, that makes all the difference...

:eyes:

because we all know that solar panels don't work properly unless they are on a house.

:sarcasm:

[The Wielding Truth]

60. "quietly installed"? Kinda stealthylike, GW? No one knew.

[bullwinkle428]

73. Fuck that asshole for doing it "quietly"! If there was one thing

he SHOULD have been crowing about over the entire course of his administration, it should have been this!!

[Javaman]

91. Well, of course he* should have...

but with darth vader as your vp what do you expect? LOL

[Downwinder]

35. Hope they use permanent adhesive this time. n/t

[barbtries]

36. i wonder if

the next repuke in charge will take them out the way reagan did with carter's.

[craigmatic]

37. Didn't President Carter have solar panels too?

[davidlynch]

39. I've confirmed that Carter Panel will not be among those installed...

I contacted Jamie Henn at 350.org and he said, alas, the Carter Panel will remain a symbol of our past failed commitment to solar. He confirms that the panel still works, but mentioned that new technology is so much more efficient, which is true. I have some panels in my back yard that are 230 watts and I know that this wasn't possible in the Carter era.

[supernova]

41. Could be the reason

they weren't brought back to the WH. Plans were already underway to have the newer bread of panels installed.

[davidlynch]

58. Yeah, the Carter panel would have just been symbolic, I would have hooked it up for fun myself n/t

[KansDem]

40. To celebrate President Obama's decision...

Sonny Criss -- "I'll Catch the Sun"

I didn't listen to Criss' music much until I bought a CD of west coast jazz and heard this for the first time. It's "optimistic" feeling goes well with White House announcement embracing solar power!

Playing "I'll Catch the Sun" is now a weekend "must" for the KansDem household! :D

[RufusTFirefly]

42. Wonderful symbolic gesture. Now, please, follow up with...

.. generous tax breaks for ordinary citizens who want to use alternative energy sources.

[pnwmom]

56. Tell Congress. They're the ones who pass the laws.

And the Senate has the filibuster power.

[RufusTFirefly]

77. Thanks for the civics lesson

Just as the President can set an example by putting up panels, he can urge Congress to support legislation. It's known as the bully pulpit.

Example:

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth." -- John F. Kennedy, 1961.

[boycottfaux]

43. Re-Installing Solar Panels

Caption should read:

WHITE HOUSE TO GO SOLAR AGAIN

[wpsedgwick]

44. White House to install rooftop solar panels

Source: Examiner.com

Solar panels and a solar hot water heater will soon be installed at the White House, the Obama administration said Tuesday.

The solar panel system, which should be installed by next spring, will convert sunlight directly to electricity, while the solar hot water heater will have a solar collector facing the sun to heat water for use in the White House residence.

The Energy Department said a competitive procurement process will be used to select the company that will make the installations.

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/green-technology-in-chicago/white-house-to-install-rooftop-solar-panels

[BrklynLiberal]

45. Great news....

[onehandle]

46. Que Fox News to claim that Obama is another Carter. nt

[itsrobert]

47. What will they do with the minature nuclear plant?

Let it go to waste?

[ClassWarrior]

48. Thanks Bill McKibben!!

I hope they put Jimmy Carter's panel up there, along with the new ones.

NGU.

[Rage for Order]

49. This is a great idea!

Why didn't someone think of this before???










:sarcasm:

[soupkitchen]

50. Correcting Reagan's mistakes one at a time

[Warpy]

51. And the next Republican will rip them down

just out of spite, like Reagan did.

You can always count on Republicans for spite.

[Regret My New Name]

70. I wonder how that would go over these days though...

Obviously the old timer republicans would be their typical idiot selves, but I wonder how the younger generation would take it... I'm not sure because I don't know many hard core righties under 30...

[InvisibleTouch]

52. Excellent! K&R n/t

[Guilded Lilly]

59. GOOD move.n/t

[truebrit71]

61. So why not announce this when 350.org was there last week with one of Carter's solar panels...??

I don't understand why there was the separation between the two...unless the Obama WH didn't want to appear to cave to an environmental group...wait..I just answered my own question..

[DirkGently]

64. I like it. Strikes a blow for Carter as well.

[derby378]

65. Nice gesture!

Definitely a step in the right direction.

[_ed_]

66. Our energy policy is finally catching up

with the late 1970s.

[thereismore]

67. This is all good on so many levels. Long overdue too. nt

[hulka38]

68. That's fine but

it is something like Bush buying a ranch, driving around in a pick up and kicking his boots up in the oval office for a photo shoot. It's a nod to the conservationists, environmentalists and the left base at this time. Again, nothing wrong with it but just want to point out the obvious political element.

[Regret My New Name]

69. What happens if we install too many solar panels and it sucks up all the sunlight?

WE WOULD BE DOOOOOOMED!!!

[Blue_Tires]

76. major kick

[pleah]

79. K&R

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[tilsammans]

82. K&R to the sun!!! n/t

[David Zephyr]

83. Great symbolism. Leaders set the examples. Overdue, but still a very good move.

After the election, President Carter should be invited to a special event honoring his foresight in the 1970's.

[liberation]

84. Awesome!

Great news.

[harvey007]

86. Finally!

Many thanks to Bill McKibben and friends for pushing this.

[wakemewhenitsover]

87. But I don't understand --

-- how is Big Oil supposed to make any money off of sunshine?
:shrug:

[proteus_lives]

88. Good news.