Friday, September 10, 2010

No more solar panels on the White House

This week Bill McKibben and a group of students from Unity College in Maine drove some of the solar panels that used to grace the White House (thank you, Jimmy Carter!), back down from Maine where they have been since the Reagan Administration (why take them off the roof? Boo to Reagan). Bill and the students were hoping to draw attention to solar power again and get the Obama Administration to put the panels back up on the White House. They called it the Solar Power Road Trip.

Today they got a No Go from the White House.

Oh well. I can't say I'm surprised at this point. While I'm not upset with the Obama Administration overall, I have to say that actual politics kind of blows compared to grass roots enthusiastic activism. Alternative power is part of our future - but it's a future we will have to work for.

I'm putting together a table of kids' activities for a Energy Fair at my church on the 3rd. Any cool ideas out there for hands on learning about alternative energy and energy conservation? I need your ideas, people!

1 comment:

  1. As a cog in the bureaucratic machine of state government, I can appreciate the Obama's response..."deliberative process"...to a degree. We struggle with cost containment through a standards approach vs innovation that results in a deviation. The key is being able to recognize when innovation will cost effective and part of a broader strategy. In this case, I believe the missing piece is the more comprehensive energy strategy.

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