Hats off to Vermonter Bill McKibben. As of late, he’s been pushing the White House hard to put the solar panels that Jimmy Carter put on the White House, and Ronald Reagan later took down, back up.
From a press release on the Atlantic:
As of Thursday morning the Administration has offered to meet with McKibben and his team and says they are discussing the proposal to put solar back on the White House roof. “We keep hearing, ‘We’ll see’ and ‘It’s complicated,'” McKibben said. “Compared with the other things Obama has to do, it seems relatively easy. You can’t filibuster the roof.”
Here’s to hoping Bill gets Obama on board, and a big thanks for his efforts, too. More on that campaign here.
‘Interesting piece in the NY Times about this.
Something else that’s “trickled down” since Reagan.
Good luck, Bill!
Some of the Carter era solar panels were installed by Ed Butler, now of Randolph, and Sunrise Solar Services
When tracing so many of our current serious problems, it is virtually impossible to even count the vast number of failed conservative policies that took hold in the Reagan administration.
Energy “policy,” or the lack of one, stands out among the worst failures of conservative Republican rule in the United States.
The Reagan administration, followed by Bush & Cheney/Bush and successive conservative Congresses of both parties are responsible for the complete lack of an economically sound or environmentally sustainable approach to creating or harnessing energy. The Republican and conservative approach to energy has been to massively subsidize fossil fuels, and destroy the United State’s competitive opportunities in emerging technology.
When the Reagan administration ripped the solar panels from the White House roof, it was proudly engaging in a symbolic act. It was an intentional tribute to ignorance that glorified economic squander and environmental degradation on an unimaginable scale.
If the Obama administration decides to undue this gross act of conservative Republican vandalism against America’s future, we can thank Bill McKibben for his leadership.
As it turned out, the WH wasn’t quite ready to go solar just yet. But y’all would have been awfully proud of the three young women from Unity College who accompanied me. Their first time in DC (or any big city for a couple of them) and they stood up and spoke their minds in a tense meeting, saying strong and straightforward things. We’ve got good ones coming up!
…and what about the White House’s dodge of solar? Sure, there might be “good ones coming up” but what about the “good one” you endorsed for president? Got a plan for turning up the activist heat after he/they blew you off?