Did Reagan have the solar panels taken down when he moved into the WH?

[Peregrine Took]

Before I bring this up with a wingnut I know I want to be sure I'm right and I've seen conflicting reports.

Most say that he took them down as soon as he moved in as he, supposedly, thought they ruined the "historic" look of the house, but, really, he just wanted to put down the solar industry.

I have, also, seen stories that say they didn't come down 'til 6 years later when they were leaking which I heard the early ones did do.

Thanks for any information.

[ingac70]

1. ....

http://www.unity.edu/news/solar1004.htm

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. yup

http://www.unity.edu/news/solar1004.htm

[Amy6627]

3. He sure did. He also reversed all the policies Jimmy Carter put in place

to get us away from foriegn oil by the year 2000 (i.e. C.A.F.E. standards, alternative energy research, etc.).

[Octafish]

4. Pruneface said his answer to the energy crisis was to repeal the 55 MPH speed limit.

Big hair for such a short-sighted fellah.

[Amy6627]

22. And I didn't know ketchup was a vegatable until he enlightened me! n/t

[DCKit]

5. It was one of the first things he did after his inaguration.

Talk about telegraphing your intentions.

[Ilsa]

6. It looks like Raygun took them down in 1986, five years after moving in. nt

[TexasBushwhacker]

7. Taken down during Reagan's adminstration

Well, they ended up being re-used by a college in Maine, so I would assume they were still functional. I think Reagan just didn't want something that Jimmy Carter had put up.

http://www.unity.edu/News/solar1004.htm

[jpak]

8. Yes - and I there was one on display last fall at the Common Ground Fair in Maine

Told their story to my niece and nephew - they could not believe Reagan was that stupid...

[NJmaverick]

9. Our crippling dependence of foreign oil, Reagan's true legacy

[OwnedByFerrets]

16. I must disagree somewhat....

his true legacy is the destruction of the middle class.....or at least, the beginnings of it.

[electropop]

18. Reagan's legacy is the National Debt - it should be named for him.

Right wing idiots are so eager to name things after him, that would be a great one.

[NJmaverick]

19. and AIDS and the Savings and Loan disaster

but the energy thing is perhaps the most damaging to our nation (at least at the momement).

[BrklynLib at work]

10. There are experts who say we would have been out from under MiddleEast oil dependence

long ago if we had followed the standards that were set up under Carter.

[BrklynLib at work]

12. Thom Hartmann's description of the situation..

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=158050

<snip>
Therefore, Carter said, "I will soon submit legislation to Congress calling for the creation of this nation's first solar bank, which will help us achieve the crucial goal of 20 percent of our energy coming from solar power by the year 2000." But then came the Iran/Contra October Surprise, when the Reagan/Bush campaign allegedly promised the oil-rich mullahs of Iran that they'd sell them missiles and other weapons if only they'd keep our hostages until after the 1980 Carter/Reagan presidential election campaign was over. The result was that Carter, who had been leading in the polls over Reagan/Bush, steadily dropped in popularity as the hostage crisis dragged out, and lost the election. The hostages were released the very minute that Reagan put his hand on the Bible to take his oath of office. The hostages freed, the Reagan/Bush administration quickly began illegally delivering missiles to Iran.

And Ronald Reagan's first official acts of office included removing Jimmy Carter's solar panels from the roof of the White House, and reversing most of Carter's conservation and alternative energy policies.

Today, despite the best efforts of the Bushies, the bin Ladens, and the rest of the oil industry, Carter's few surviving initiatives have borne fruit.

It is now more economical to build power generating stations using wind than using coal, oil, gas, or nuclear. When amortized over the life of a typical mortgage, installing solar power in a house in most parts of the US is cheaper than drawing power from the grid. (Shell and British Petroleum are among the world's largest manufacturers of solar photovoltaic panels, which can now even be used as roofing shingles.) And hybrid cars that get 50-70 miles to the gallon are increasingly commonplace on our nation's highways. Instead of taking a strong stand to make America energy independent, Bush kisses a Saudi crown prince, then holds hands with him as they walk into Bush's hobby ranch in Texas. Our young men and women are daily dying in Iraq - a country with the world's second largest store of underground oil. And we live in fear that another 15 Saudis may hijack more planes to fly into our nation's capitol or into nuclear power plants.

Meanwhile, Bush brings us an energy bill that includes eight billion dollars in welfare payments to the oil business, just as the nation's oil companies report the highest profits in the entire history of the industry. Americans struggle to pay for gasoline, while the Bush administration refuses to increase fleet efficiency standards, stop the $100,000 tax break for buying Hummers, or maintain and build Amtrak. George Bush Jr. is arguably right that gas prices are spiking because we don't have an energy policy. But instead of blaming Clinton, he should be pointing to the Reagan/Bush administration, and to his own abysmal failures over the past four years.
<snip>

[bdamomma]

14. if only they listened, we wouldn't be in this dreadful situation we are in now.

[SpiralHawk]

11. Reagan also trashed Carter's polity of making the US 20% solar by 2000

If only we had followed Carter's policy, instead of letting the Corporate Republicon Homelanders trash everything good and wise...

If not for the Republicons, America would have no energy crisis, and prices for gas and food would be stable....

[bdamomma]

15. and no pre emptive invasions

what a mess........sigh but all should of's and could of's can't help us now, we have to scratch our way out of this.

[TooBigaTent]

13. Not only the panels, but most alternative energy funding (except the tax credits) that

helped his wealthy friends save money.

I worked on a DOE project during the end of Carter's administration and the beginning of Raygun's. Braindead cut the funding and ended the project. In addition, hundreds of thousands of documents on solar, conservation, and alternative energy produced on YOUR DIME (tax dollars) were trashed after being hidden away in warehouses in Bethesda. People who requested information were then referred to well-connected private contractors who SOLD them the very same info we had collected and generated.

Just another of the million reasons to hate Raygun and curse him and his administration.

[Old and In the Way]

20. If I'm not mistaken, Reagan/Bush demoted the DOE from a cabinet-level position.

Couldn't have our tax dollars developing new technologies that would compete with their #1 favorite charity - Big Oil.

I'm seeing more and more postings on this subject. As 'Evening in America' follows Reagan's "Morning in America", people are starting to revisit the Carter legacy and are realizing how short-term profits kept this country dependent on oil and sold out our country's long term interests in decentralizing our energy security. Republican greed has driven a policy that has increased our national security risks, requiring significant increases in defense spending to keep our oil fix in place. The Iraq oil grab gambit failed and we're now beginning to sow the results....what one Bush started, the son has finished.

[lisa58]

17. yes...

...Carter was a visionary - If Reagan left them up there - gasoline would not be $4.00 a gallon today.

[MnFats]

21. and of course, NIXON enjoyed a cozy fire, so he kept the air conditioning running

full blast no matter what time of the year.

at least in the oval office and his personal quarters.

not making this up..

middle of July, air conditioning going at top speed, Nixon in his bathrobe in front of the fire....