There was a clear, calculated campaign during the Reagan years to crush solar energy programs

[NNN0LHI]

http://history.verdeserve.com/the-white-house-sported-solar-panels-until-reagan-removed-them-in-1986/

The White House Sported Solar Panels Until Reagan Removed Them in 1986

Believe it or not, there was a time when the White House was partially-powered by solar panels! But that didn’t last, as they were taken down only a few years after they were installed (despite being in perfect working order).

During the energy crisis of the late 1970s, then-president Jimmy Carter called on Americans to conserve power and to prove that he wasn’t just all talk, he had an expansive row of solar panels installed on the roof of the West Wing in 1977.

In order to encourage other Americans to consider using clean energy sources, Carter also put in place tax benefits for those who did. “No one can ever embargo the sun or interrupt its delivery to us,” Carter proclaimed at the installation ceremony for his panels. snip

In 1986 when the price of energy was temporarily cheaper and Americans’ minds were less focused on environmental issues, President Reagan ordered the panels removed from the White House roof. Reagan, who didn’t think much of solar energy, also allowed the tax credit Carter had instated to lapse.

[NYC_SKP]

1. Just to clarify, these were water heating panels and not photovoltaic electric modules.

And the white house now has both types; water heating panels and solar PV modules.

K/R

[Demeter]

2. Reagan set us back 30 years in everything

[saras]

3. No, intellectually he set us back 500 years

All the way back to pre-Enlightenment religious thought.

[PETRUS]

4. Conservatives are so weird...

Change will happen whether you like it or not. Dig your heels in, and it'll sneak up and clobber you (us). Get involved with it, and it's a wee bit easier to prevent an unwanted outcome.

K&R

[mdmc]

5. ..