Sunsihne!

 So, once upon a time Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed on the White House. That was back in 1979, when the technology for solar energy was still in its early stages. “A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people.”

Sadly, it didn't take a generation for judgement to be called in. In spite of Jimmy's whish that “the power of the sun to enrich our lives as we move away from our crippling dependence on foreign oil,” the guy that came in behind him in succession had the panels torn down as part of "roof repairs." They were not replaced. The tax credits initiated by the Carter administration were removed at this same moment in history. Ronald Reagan's attorney general, Edwin Meese, felt that solar panels were not an image befitting of a super power. 

Those same solar panels sat in a warehouse in Maine, where they stayed even during the "Green" Clinton/Gore administration. In 2006, one panel made it down to the Carter Library in Atlanta, delivered there, fittingly, by two students in a vegetable oil-powered vehicle. Somewhere in the middle of all that mess, George HW Bush had a nine kilowatt, rooftop solar electric or photovoltaic system, as well as two solar thermal systems that heat water used on the premises.

In 2013, President Barack Obama had new solar panels installed, with the goal of generating six kilowatts. We might call this a "nice start." The one hundred thrity-two room White House is still far from being energy efficient. 

One might imagine that the current resident tore down an entire wing of the mansion to make the People's House more energy efficient. But that would be an imagining, since the proposed replacement for that structure has a great big roof with no plans for any sort of solar array. 

For a bit of history, gasoline during the crisis point of Jimmy Carter's presidency was one dollar per gallon. Adjusted for today's economy, that would be three dollars. Most of the planet would like to see three dollars a gallon again. 

Just like most of the planet would like to see renewable energy become the path to energy independence. I don't have any evidence of a war being started because of solar energy. 

Now there's a bright idea.