Amy Goodman: A Little Missed Sunshine

[marmar]

from truthdig:



A Little Missed Sunshine
Posted on Sep 14, 2010

By Amy Goodman


BONN, Germany—When first lady Michelle Obama started an organic garden at the White House, she sparked a national discussion on food, obesity, health and sustainability. But the green action on the White House lawn hasn’t made it to the White House roof, unfortunately.

Back in 1979, President Jimmy Carter installed solar panels on the roof of the West Wing as part of a new solar strategy. “In the year 2000,” Carter said, “the solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here, supplying cheap, efficient energy. A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people.”

Sadly, after President Ronald Reagan came into office, he had the panels removed, and some of them did end up in museums. Environmental activist Bill McKibben, founder of the group 350.org, told me, “You know where one of these other panels is? It’s in the private museum of the Chinese entrepreneur who’s built the world’s largest solar thermal company on earth, Himin Solar. They’ve installed 60 million arrays like this across China.”

In 1990, the White House panels were retrieved from government storage and put back into use by Unity College in Maine. To make the case for solar, McKibben joined with a group of Unity College students and drove one of the panels from their campus to the White House, asking that it be put back on the roof. The White House declined the offer. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_little_missed_sunshine_20100914/