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Solar panels to the WH roof: will the oft-promised bone be served up in the Second Obama Administration?

January 19th, 2013 · 2 Comments

The White House roof remains without solar electric panels despite Administration promises that this would have occurred well before now. While putting a few kilowatts (or even a few tens of kilowatts) of solar systems on the White House will have miniscule direct impact on the nation’s energy system, the symbolism remains important.

With this in mind, not surprising that one of the videos surrounding President Obama’s second inauguration relates to putting solar panels on the White House roof. While the rest of the family celebrates otherwise,

First Dog, Bo Obama, powers up his inauguration party with solar energy to celebrate another four years on the White House lawn! Good boy, Bo! Go to Solar White House to see what Bo is planning for his 2nd term.

While Bo’s celebration certainly looks more comfortable than the likely chilly weather Monday, it would nice to see Bo’s and his masters’ houses both sporting solar panels.

Last week, the petition below went up at the White House site calling for the Administration to put solar panels on the White House roof.

Put solar panels back on the White House, as a testament to our country’s commitment to a green energy future.

President Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed on the White House in 1979, and Ronald Reagan had them removed. President Obama committed to installing modern solar panels capable of producing 19,700 kilowatt hours of electricity a year — more than twice the total energy consumed by the average DC home — by the Spring of 2011. It is now 2013, and the White House remains without solar energy.

This petition is to urge the President to prioritize green energy and environmental responsibility in his second term. The White House should be made into a model for energy efficient home design, by integrating all available green energy technologies and thereby setting an example for home renovation and new home construction nationwide.

Created: Jan 15, 2013

Issues: EnergyEnvironment

On seeing (signing) the above petition, I discovered something: the threshold required for driving an Administration response has changed. Until quite recently (just days ago), the threshold was 25,000 votes. This petition requires 100,000.

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Tags: solar · Solar Energy

2 responses so far ↓

  • 1 pendantry // Apr 27, 2013 at 8:33 am

    “… the threshold required for driving an Administration response has changed. Until quite recently (just days ago), the threshold was 25,000 votes. This petition requires 100,000.”

    And the petition appears to have failed:

    The petition you are trying to access has expired, because it failed to meet the signature threshold.

    I have no doubt that this is fuel for some in the US administration to claim that there’s ‘insufficient interest’ in this topic. /doh

  • 2 The sun is shining on and at the White House: Honoring Solar #WHChamps // Apr 17, 2014 at 9:23 am

    […] the White House lead by example and put solar pv on the roof (next to Secret Service snipers?) as part of the Capital Solar […]