An Earth Day tribute to Ronald Reagan

You remember President Reagan?  He was the one who deregulated the air traffic controllers and fired the lot of them.  His new hires are now all beginning to retire at once.  Because of the deregulation, the replacements aren't being trained properly, so they're taking naps while on duty.  How ironic that one of the first controllers to be caught sleeping worked at Reagan Airport.

But let's talk about the environment a minute.  Back in the Carter years, OPEC made petroleum scarce and the price of gas shot up to--gasp--over a dollar a gallon.  Everyone started acting sensibly--buying smaller cars, lowering thermostats, etc.  President Carter began to promote alternative energy sources.  One of his projects was to install solar panels on the White House for a hot water system.

In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan worked his special magic and petroleum prices came down.  In 1986, Reagan had the White House solar panels removed.  The message:  We don't need no stinkin' unprofitable solar energy.

We're now paying for the Middle East political finagling of those years and the administrations to follow with wars, unrest, and gas prices over $4 and still rising.  We're paying for it more with climate change that's nearly out of control.  The leftover Reagan taming-of-the-Wild-West attitude isn't helping matters.  Unlike the 1970s, people now seem to think they're entitled to their big gas-guzzers.  Small cars are barely advertised.  Homes these days are filled with more lights, and with more and bigger electronics that always pull power, even when they're shut off.  Everyone seems to feel that someone else ought to be doing something to fix environmental problems, but buy a more efficient car?  Turn off the lights and power strips when you leave the room?  God forbid.

Last year, a company named Sungevity offered to donate a full solar system for the White House.  They were refused.  I've read weird excuses for this:  that a White House solar system would only emphasize how expensive they are and show the President as being "out of touch," or that somehow this would encourage every nut out there to donate alternative energy to the White House (is that a bad thing?).

No one who has mentioned the Carter/Reagan solar story has hit on the crucial point:  Since 1986, taxpayers have paid for EVERY DROP of hot water in the White House.  Had Reagan left those panels in place, we would have at least saved money on sunny days.  Over the last two decades, that would have been added up to a fairly substantial savings.

A full solar system on the White House now would not only heat the hot water, but probably make enough electricity to sell back to the power company occasionally.  Imagine, a government project MAKING money.  And if Sungevity donated it, this would be at no cost to the taxpayer.

What the President ought to do to show he gets it about cutting government costs is to have that solar system installed on the White House.  Either that or stop taking hot showers at our expense.

He also ought to encourage companies to RENT solar panels to consumers at affordable prices.  The consumer gets solar energy, the company gets the rent payments plus money from any electricity sold back to the grid.  Everyone wins.  Including the earth.

muon