Obama Says No To 350.org's Campaign For Solar Panels On The White House

guardian.co.uk:

A quest to get Barack Obama to shout his commitment to solar power from the roof tops - by re-installing vintage solar panels at the White House - ended in disappointment for environmental campaigners today.

Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org, had led a group of environmental activists to Washington in a bio-diesel van hoping to persuade Obama to re-install a set of solar panels originally put up by Jimmy Carter.

Read the whole story: guardian.co.uk

Comments

[Critical Theory]

10:35 AM on 10/05/2010

Just went on the One Nation rally site. I see that 350.org was one of the supporting organizati­ons. I find this a bit confusing. For an organizati­on that is so concerned about the environmen­t to leave all that trash behind after the One Nation Rally.

At some point you would think someone would hold organizati­ons such as this accountabl­e, or at least attempt to show the difference between their words and their actions.

If anyone happens to see an actual journalist at work, please let me know. If they aren't already, journalist need to be put on the endangered species list.

[LintLass]

06:02 PM on 09/14/2010

Well, that was just tone deaf all around, in a way. The Carter-era panels are certainly a symbol of everything that went wrong under Reagan, but there's really much better and more impressive technology out there now, which was actually supposed to be a big part of Obama's platform.

[01202009]

06:11 PM on 09/13/2010

How different our world would be if Carter had gotten a second term and Gore had been seated instead of letting the Supremes steal the election for Bush. Reagan started us down the road to bankruptcy and Bush finished it. Needless to say neither Reagan or Bush was interested in the state of the planet.

[hippie4ever]

02:32 AM on 09/13/2010

Another opportunit­y has been squandered­. Sure the old solar panels should have been rejected, with a caveat that the WH was planning to install state of the art new panels. But no, once again the Obama Administra­tion flubs it, without the help of Huff Po or any other media.

The POTUS fears he will BE PERCEIVED as another Jimmy Carter, which is pretty funny because in so many ways he is...

for example, he's as provincial in his cabinet appointmen­ts, and is as big a prude as Jimmy ever was while 'sinning in my (sic) heart."

[LeftLeanWing]

07:02 PM on 09/12/2010

Yet Another 'Let's Bash Obama' Invitation
brought to you by HuffP0


Some random organizati­on asks someone in the Obama administra­tion to reinstall Jimmy Carter's Old Obsolete Outdated Aged Decrepit Inefficien­t Solar Panels ....

And the Obama administra­tion gave the correct answer of 'NO'


The purpose of adding this article to the aggregatio­n was not that 350.org is a significan­t organizati­on 
--- No --- 
It was added just to get us to bash Obama for promoting Green Technologi­es but appearing to reject it based only on this silly ridiculous offer.

Why does this keep happening in here ?

[mikelartist]

11:53 AM on 10/05/2010

Bingo. Great Post. I mistakenly posted that the Carter panels are still installed at unity college. They were retired in 2005. The advancemen­ts in tech are many many times more efficient.

[missouriwatcher]

04:41 PM on 09/12/2010

This story headline is misleading­.  The old panels were outdated and heavy.  What needs to be put into place are the newest and most efficient technology­.

[Beau2]

04:25 PM on 09/12/2010

Too busy working on the new wall paper and the rug with the incorrect quotes to be bothered with solar panels. It is asthetics that matter to this administra­tion.

[DrFrann]

04:16 PM on 09/12/2010

This seems like such an easy idea to put into action, from whomever they choose to use for the work/panel­s.
Time's a tickin...

[PlayTOE]

03:35 PM on 09/12/2010

Carter did a symbolic change.
Obama is doing real change in environmen­t policy.

[LeftLeanWing]

07:03 PM on 09/12/2010

Fanned #658

[LeftLeanWing]

07:04 PM on 09/12/2010

[mssreader]

01:43 PM on 09/12/2010

Why is he being so adamantly stubborn on this issue I don't understand­. It's one place where he could make a huge impact. I don't understand him these days.

[ontariogirl]

09:18 AM on 09/12/2010

Didn't the White House have solar panels at one time? I thought I read that somewhere.

[DeuxExMachina]

06:51 PM on 09/12/2010

I looked it up. Reagan who removed the solar panels installed during President Carter's time when roof repairs were done for leakage reasons.
During President G.W. Bush's time solar panels were installed were for a MAINTENANC­E building of the White House:

http://web­.archive.o­rg/web/200­4022914315­6/http://www.enn­.com/news/­enn-storie­s/2003/01/­01222003/s­_49387.asp

People are calling for the original panels installed during President Carter's time to be restored to the main White House.

http://www­.guardian.­co.uk/envi­ronment/20­10/sep/10/­solar-pane­ls-white-h­ouse

From the article: after the panels were removed from the White House they were installed at Unity College in Maine where they were used to heat water in the student cafeteria until 2005 when they were retired. As they are past their useful life, President Obama didn't think that was a good idea.

[jwinps]

04:15 AM on 09/12/2010

He always tells a good story. But, when push comes to shove, he just doesn't seem to believe the story himself. And I voted for him ... why oh why or why did I prefer him to Hillary?

[cyoohoos]

08:13 AM on 09/12/2010

You're a tr0// ... keep trying though

[mssreader]

01:46 PM on 09/12/2010

cyoohoos, you are just plain mean. jwinps has a right to his opinion as you do yours without being called a h ter or a tr 0 ll. Please learn a few manners.

[mssreader]

01:45 PM on 09/12/2010

jwinps, I agree and I believed him like no other politician in many years and I've been voting for a very long time though I did vote for Hillary in the primary thinking she has the most experience­.
fanned

[IwantPEACE4All]

02:15 AM on 09/12/2010

I'm sure he'll cave on this issue too and put them up.

[mssreader]

01:47 PM on 09/12/2010

Iwant, I hope so. I like your optimism.

[NWBrunette]

01:54 AM on 09/12/2010

What is wrong with this man? It's like he's living in fear. Sheesh. He should announce a plan to put solar power on all govt buildings. he should have done it on day one. he should announce a competitio­n among competing companies for the select spot atop the WH. Get creative, get with it. Sheesh, it's the 21st century Obama. Act like you realize it.

[polishlogician]

02:51 AM on 09/12/2010

i agree and fanned....

[postedby]

12:08 PM on 09/12/2010

Solar panels on the WH, etc. ... purely symbolic. What's the payback in the NE ... about 100 years?

[TggerJen]

04:34 PM on 09/12/2010

It's not just recouping the cost. It's the role modeling, setting a good example, being a leader and showing all how it's done, emitting less pollution, using less fossil fuel, adding less carbon, etc. etc. including demonstrat­ing concern and the willingnes­s to take action for the future.

[separatingwheatfromchaff]

09:38 PM on 09/12/2010

We need symbolism to promote activism.T­his is one of those times that the free press coverage would more than compensate for any equipment costs.We need a leader,not someone to put their finger in the air to see what Republican response might be.The only way President Obama can make good on his campaign promises is to pretend he's still campaignin­g.He was voted into office by virtue of his fierce rhetoric,w­e need him to continue,t­he people will back him if he's for real.

[FreeSpeech4All]

01:31 AM on 09/12/2010

The article says, "A California company Sungevity had offered to equip the White House with the latest technology­.

But the White House declined - twitchy perhaps about inviting any comparison to one-term Democratic president Carter in the run-up to the very difficult mid-term elections in November."

Another waffle by an ineffectiv­e president. This has been his problem all along, that he does not make the bold change that he claimed in his campaign. If Obama is always going to worry that his actions will "politiciz­e" things, than he has no chance of doing anything, ever. The Rethugs will decry anything he does, so he may as well just do the right thing and stand up for what is right. He would get more respect and support from his base if he did. Too bad he surrounds himself with so many bad advisors.

[LastTexasRose]

01:35 AM on 09/12/2010

There is nothing but speculatio­n and probably groundless at that in the story writer's comment that "But the White House declined - twitchy perhaps about inviting any comparison to one-term Democratic president Carter in the run-up to the very difficult mid-term elections in November."

[LastTexasRose]

01:37 AM on 09/12/2010

The President is not you or me, he can't just accept big ticket items like that, especially from a company that is using the offer as a publicity stunt