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.
The actual Carter-era solar panels - which weigh in at 55 kilograms and are nearly 2 metres long - are out-dated now. But campaigners had hoped that the White House would embrace at least the symbolism of going solar - much like Michelle Obama kicked off her healthy food movement by planting a vegetable garden.
– bumper sticker on the Prius of James Woolsey, former CIA director
Woolsey also partially powers his home with solar panels.
The former CIA director, other Bush neoconservatives who planned and promoted the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, anti-war vets and even Arianna Huffington believe America's dependence on foreign oil partially funds America's enemies. Energy efficiency and alternative power are patriotic, they said, trying to make the case for an energy policy that weans the United States from politically unstable sources of fuel. The most recent effort is tied up in the U.S. Senate (link requires registration).
The civilian architects of those wars were joined by retired military officers who were talking about the strategic and tactical value of renewable energy, especially solar:
If you really want to support our troops, don’t put that sticker on the back of a gas guzzling SUV going down the 405 freeway with one passenger in it. If you want to support our troops, help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
– U.S. Navy Vice Admiral (Ret.) Dennis McGinn. Plug-in Humvees and low-cost solar could be tactics in the 21st century way of waging war.
It would have has a number of advantages for the military; it is ready to use, inexpensive, has little logistical footprint and is easy to use for powering portable communications, cell phones, radios Global Positioning Systems and other devices. It will also allow solar cells to be printed on military tents and soldiers’ uniforms. Energy systems, ready to go.
Each year, Black Rock Solar returns to our source of our inspiration: Black Rock City. We eagerly look forward to our stay on the playa as an opportunity to connect with our supporters, inspire others and educate about our mission and our projects.
This year could be chilly. Wear some clothes, for chrissake.
Its cover story is about zero-energy residential renovation. Go here and check it out.
Solar Today is a publication of the American Solar Energy Society. It offers a nice, readable mix of features, trends and policy updates published in digital and print versions.
Salt Lake Community College students installed a 3kW photovoltaic array on the roof of a low-income house in Kearns, Utah, last year as part of a pioneering program to train workers for just the kind of "distributed" solar power project that will be formally announced (but informally announced here by The Salt Lake Tribune) next week by Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon.
The students were enrolled in “Advanced Photovoltaic Systems,” one of the first solar-installer classes offered by SLCC as part of its Green Academy initiative. SLCC recognized the value of training would-be entrepreneurs and workers to compete in an emerging renewable energy economy at the boots-on-the-roof level. The SLCC course was developed in partnership with the Utah Solar Energy Association, the Community Development Corporation of Kearns, Utah Clean Energy and others.
SLCC, Corroon and his staff have been aggressively pushing development of renewable energy as an engine of job creation in Utah for several years now. However, it's been a tough row to hoe. Utah's Legislature is heavily influenced by coal interests and has been sluggish in attempts to develop the state's abundant solar resources -- at least compared with what's being done right now on utility scales in Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and California.
(An example is an enabling bill that apparently died during the 2010 legislative session because of the influence of bankers and their lobbying apparatus or the relative lack of influence of solar and clean energy supporters. Take your pick. It would've opened up PACE -- property assessed clean energy -- to county- and city-level governments and homeowners. Basically, PACE is a way to finance solar systems or energy efficiency retrofits. The city or county offers you a loan, and you pay it back through your property tax bills over 15 to 20 years. Good idea, right? Here are the basics. But bankers were cut out of the loop. End of story. Or, thanks to Utahns for Ethical Government, the beginning of the end?)
That could change if Corroon, also the Democratic candidate for governor, is elected in November. Voters should expect Corroon to adopt similar policies in an attempt to inoculate Utah's economy from what may be a long-term economic downturn and the twilight of the coal industry -- or at least push for policies that enable Utah to compete with its neighbors, even its equally politically conservative neighbors.
The City of Reno solar project is the first statewide request for proposal (RFP) to build renewable energy that takes advantage of AB 186, a Nevada state law passed in October 2009 which allows for third-party ownership of renewable energy generation systems. The new law effectively allows businesses, institutions and governments to purchase solar arrays without up-front capital costs. They can save money by paying long-term fixed rates on the energy generated. In concert with NV Energy's RenewableGenerations Program, AB 186 has paved the way for clean renewable energy projects to be realized across Nevada.
