Finally, Obama has decided to answer thousands of petitioners' calls to place solar panels back on the White House roof. This announcement restores at least a semblance of hope that Obama gets the importance of executive branch support for serious clean energy and climate change action. However, this should have been done in his first year in office, or at the very least before the climate bill was put together in the Senate. Now seems like a random time to be announcing this. Why didn't he decide to show such visible support for clean energy in conjunction with his calls for passing a comprehensive clean energy bill last summer?!? Seems like a huge missed opportunity to me...
The solar panels will be installed this coming spring, and it will only be for the Obamas' private quarters. President Carter's solar panels in the 1970s powered the West Wing offices. Can we read into the symbolism here and say that Obama doesn't want the public to take the solar panel installation as meaning that the government must be involved in clean energy deployment, but that it should be a household-by-household choice? At least it's a move up from where George W. had his solar panels -- powering his swimming pool and a maintenance building.
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