Obama should put Solar Panels back on top of the WH!

[Phred42]

Wouldn't THAT be a great statement to vindicate Carter?

[JuniperLea]

1. It sure would

I think this is a great idea! "Our" house should be as green as feasible.

[BR_Parkway]

26. Totally agree, but can you imagine how much power the WH uses

- we'd need enough solar panels to cover all the way to Alexandria, VA.

Serious, I totally love the idea of him doing it, but really laughed out load at the visual that popped into my head.

[GreenPartyVoter]

34. Doesn't matter if he can't go off-grid. LOL Just the fact that he's doing something proactive

is important, even if it only helps a little bit.

[CTyankee]

2. I love it! We can watch even MORE pukes heads explode!

Have a veritable 4th of July with all the explosions!

[Cleita]

3. Yes, and this time he should make an executive order preventing them

from ever being removed again except for repairs and updating. Maybe he should even push for an amendment to the Constitution stating this. :-)

[SpiralHawk]

4. Take that Ronald Reagan, you republicon you

This would be payback for the republions stripping them off the White House - an act of supreme arrogance and stupidity

[BOSSHOG]

6. Arrogance and Stupidity

Conservative Values for generations and heard coast to coast every day on Faux radio.

[Lerkfish]

7. there used to be solar panels there?

wow, I didn't remember that.

[Phred42]

9. Reagan's FIRST order after he was srown in was to have them removed

[SpiralHawk]

10. Jimmah Carter put the solar panels up on the White HOUSE

during the oil crisis of the 70s - as a model for a long-term solution to the nation's energy needs

One of the Very First things Reagan and the republicons did when they took over was to rip them off and throw them away

Republicon 'family values' Ptoooey

[aquart]

12. Panels are way improved since then, aren't they?

I think it's a wonderful idea. I have absolutely no memory of the Carter panels, but I'm pleased he did it.

[slipslidingaway]

16. They actually went to a school I believe and just recently were

retired.

[sandnsea]

5. And a kitchen garden and switchgrass for biofuel n/t

[Uncle Joe]

8. I believe that would be a good idea as a symbolic gesture to the nation

that the U.S. is seriously ready to lead again.

I also believe the promotion of green technology can be a ladder for the U.S. to climb out of our current economic hole while strengthening our national security and serving to save life as we know it, to boot.

Thanks for the thread, Phred.:thumbsup:

[KayLaw]

11. I think Bush already did.

Here's one link:

http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/solarwhitehouse.htm

You can do a search for more links. Peak Oil folks were a little freaked by this, as well as the way Crawford ranch is outfitted. I believe Bush also installed a huge cistern on the White House grounds.
Both places could do well without the grid.

[rvablue]

13. Why do you say "back on top" ?? Is it b/c

Clinton had them up there and Bush took them down?

If this is the case I simply can't believe that this late in the game there is just one more reason to think the Bush administration are freakin' morons.

And I agree, it would send an awesome message to the rest of the country and I think it should be his first executive order.

[Phred42]

18. Carter had them up there and Reagan took them down

[Regret My New Name]

41. That doesn't make any sense to me...

I mean, even for republicans to do... What the did they give for their reasoning for it?

[slipslidingaway]

14. And hold a press conference on the roof, I know there is a picture

of Carter doing this back in the 70's when they were installed.

[vinylsolution]

15. President Obama should go one step further....

... and put some wind turbines on the WH roof, too.

Make a ceremony of it, and invite Carter and Al Gore along for the press conference.

They say revolution begins at home... right?

[slipslidingaway]

17. Definitely invite Carter n/t

[Phred42]

19. Yes! Invite Carter and let him say "I told you so"

:toast:

[BR_Parkway]

27. If only we had kept listening... can you imagine where we'd be today?

[Phred42]

28. WE did listen. The Fascist took over the country.

[awoke_in_2003]

36. I agree with the wind turbines...

harness the power generated by all the hot air our politicians spew.

[grannylib]

20. Yes indeed, and retrofit all federal buildings to geothermal heating

and cooling systems. Provide jobs and ultimately save taxpayers a bunch of money.
On edit:
And green roofs on any that are flat. :-)

[BrklynLiberal]

22. Yes...Everything you said...Green roofs and all.

:thumbsup: :hi:

[progressoid]

21. Here's a photo:

President Carter inspecting a solar heating panel installed on the roof of the White House. Photo courtesy Jimmy Carter Library.

[Beartracks]

31. Here's the story from History.com...

June 20, 1979
Solar-energy system installed at White House

President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter climb to the White House roof to celebrate the installation of solar-energy panels there on this day in 1979.

Carter presided over a nation still suffering from the fallout of the 1973-74 Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil embargo. Carter, a proponent of alternative and sustainable energy sources, put into practice what he preached and, in June 1979, had a $28,000 solar-heating system installed on the White House roof. The system consisted of 32 photovoltaic panels that generated enough energy to provide hot water for the entire White House. During his term Carter also had an energy-efficient wood-burning stove installed in the drafty White House residential quarters.

In 1986, President Reagan had the solar panels removed and put into a federal storage facility in Virginia, stating that the energy crisis that had affected both foreign and domestic policy during Carter’s term would not be a factor during his own. Both the environmental organization Greenpeace and a college in Maine asked to have the solar panels after they were taken down. As an October 2004 Associated Press article reported, Greenpeace’s request for the panels, which they wanted to use in a homeless shelter, was ultimately rejected, and in 1992, the conservation-minded Unity College of Maine installed them to use for the generation of hot water in the student dining hall. Former President Carter sent a congratulatory note to the college saying he was glad the panels would be of some use.

By 2004, the solar panels had worn out. Unity College kept one of the panels for “historical significance,” donated another panel to the Smithsonian Institute and offered the rest for sale.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=6/20&categoryId=presidential

[Beaverhausen]

23. absolutely!

K&R

[codjh9]

24. YESSSSS!!!!!! Incrediibly stupid to have removed them in the first place, Ray-Gun!

[tabbycat31]

25. yes

not that I remember the Carter years or Reagan taking them down (i was a baby when Reagan was elected) but what a great symbol for the future of our country.

[LiberalFighter]

29. I would like someone to put solar panels on Bush's new home rigged

so that it will only heat the home winter or summer.

[verges]

39. Don't worry,

Where he's ultimately going it will be hot enough.

[LiberalFighter]

40. Not soon enough!!

[Shallah Kali]

30. End tax cuts & the like for Big Oil & use those $ to do that to all suitable gov. buildings

and wind as well!

[XOKCowboy]

32. Think of all of the Federal Buildings in America..

The Federal Center here in Lakewood spans acres and most of it suitable for solar panels. Even DIA now has an acre or so of solar panels to augment it's electrical needs. It would generate thousands of jobs to retrofit all of the Fed facilities with solar and wind energy.

[Beartracks]

33. There's already a bit of solar power on WH grounds!

I did not know about this. It got so little press, and what press there was happened months after the fact. :shrug:

-------------------------------
White House Installs Solar Panels
Jan 23, 2003 12:00 AM

The Bush administration has installed the first-ever solar electric system on the grounds of the White House. The National Park Service, which manages the White House complex, installed a nine kilowatt, rooftop solar electric or photovoltaic system, as well as two solar thermal systems that heat water used on the premises.

"We believe in these technologies, and they've been working for us very successfully," said James Doherty, the architect and project manager at the National Park Service Office for White House Liaison. "The National Park Service as a whole has long been interested in both sustainable design and renewable energy sources. We also have a mission to lower our energy consumption at all our sites, and we saw an opportunity to do both at the White House grounds."

Solar Design Associates designed and oversaw the installation, which was placed on the roof of the main building used for White House grounds maintenance. The PV system feeds solar generated power into the White House grounds' distribution system, providing electricity wherever it is needed.

... Two solar thermal systems, one to heat the pool and spa and one to provide domestic hot water, were also installed. While the White House has been home to a solar thermal system in the past, this is the first solar electric system to operate at the White House complex.

More...


And here's part of a story from The Washington Post, Monday, February 3, 2003:

-------------------------------
<snip>It happened last August, when, over the course of three days, the White House had 167 solar energy panels placed atop a maintenance building outside the residence. On two other buildings -- an adjoining maintenance building and the president's cabana -- systems were installed that will help heat the water for, among other uses, the presidential pool and spa.

<snip>"I think the symbolic nature of this exceeds the actual kilowatts produced," said SEIA spokesman Michael Paranzino.

That was probably the case during the energy crisis of the 1970s, when President Jimmy Carter donned a sweater, turned down his thermostat --and had a solar-powered water system installed. It was later removed by President Ronald Reagan, who shipped the panels off to Unity College in Maine, where they still heat the water for the school's cafeteria.

But if the new systems are primarily symbolic, no one, it seems, has told the White House. President Bush, who uses solar power on his ranch in Texas, has yet to trumpet the little-noticed panels, as evidence,perhaps, of his support for renewable energy.

A spokeswoman for the White House said the administration considered the changes an internal matter that it did not need to publicize.

More... (this story and other press-related info)

:patriot:

[Hekate]

35. Do what Dimbulb should have done post-9/11: slap solar panels on every federal building...

... as an example, and make this technology truly affordable for all the rest of us.

Hekate

[cliffordu]

38. YEP .

[cliffordu]

37. Yep - and he should cover the deserts with them too.

SOLAR.NOW. THAT IS ALL.

[fascisthunter]

42. Forget Statements for Vindication. It's Just Common Sense

although, yes of course it would in turn vindicate Carter...


:evilgrin:

[Phred42]

43. It would be a Twofer

[itsrobert]

44. And run Lieberman's office on Hot Air

generated by Lieberman.