Here Comes The Sun

When Dick Gephardt-- having just worked with Bush as an architect of a bipartisan unjustifiable attack on Iraq-- had some kind of ridiculous pretensions that he should be the Democratic presidential nominee, he called and asked if he could meet with me. I demurred, politely. He pushed. Somehow, he knew I had had Howard Dean over for breakfast. Was he jonesin' for one of my famous raw organic breakfasts? Hard to imagine. And I don't allow corporate shills and warmongers in my home. He kept pushing and I eventually agreed to meet him at his hotel for a few minutes. He ambushed me and tricked me into shaking hands with Terry McAuliffe. I felt sick and rushed home to wash my hands with soap and warm water. Far less likely to ever be invited into my house than Gephardt-- not to mention McAuliffe-- is non-Chicago resident Rahm Emanuel. But he was in the White House... and for long enough to ruin the first half of Obama's first term, if not destroy his chance for a second.

But with the stench of Rahm barely half a week out of the White House there has already been a real sunshine decision there-- one that coincides with a similar decision at my house. Without anyone having to worry about Rahm calling them a retard, the decision has been made to bring back solar energy at the White House.

The most famous residence in America plans to install solar panels for the first time atop the White House's living quarters.

The solar panels-- which will be installed by spring 2011-- will heat water and supply some of the first family's electricity.

...Global warming activists last month carried one of Carter's solar panels-- removed in 1986-- to Washington urge Obama to install solar. The White House has been considering it since Obama took office.

About a month or so ago someone knocked on my door from a San Diego-based company, California Solar Innovations, to see if I was interested in finding out more about solar energy. I was and we set up an appointment for a few days hence. The guy who came over went through my energy bill, explained it to me-- including the three tier system that I never understood but that had so much to do with why I was paying $1,000 every two months. He worked on a system design for me to bring my costs down from $1,000 to $10. And between tax credits and rebates, the whole project will be profitable for me in less than five years. I hope Obama's getting as good a deal. Of course, getting Rahm Emanuel out of the White House is the best deal he's ever had, whether he knows it or he doesn't-- and I suspect he definitely does.



Neighbors have been knocking on my door asking about the new solar panels on my roof. People driving by stop their cars to look at it. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I find the panels to be positively gorgeous. They enhance the look of the house not just because of the function they represent but because of their integral aesthetic image itself. Apparently, in the Orange County red belt, not everyone sees it the same way I do.

When San Clemente officials learned that taxpayers could save about $325,000 a year by using solar energy to heat and power a proposed aquatics center, they included solar in the design for a 45-acre sports park.

"Green" solution. Saves money. A win/win, right? There was just one problem: The city didn't consult the owners of some 160 homes beside a hill the solar panels would adorn.


On Tuesday night, homeowners' response to the plan was so resounding that the City Council voted to hold off on installing the solar panels and investigate other places to put them so they won't affect the neighborhood.

A plan to screen the panels by planting trees didn't allay residents' concerns or convince council members that the screening would make it right.

On a 5-0 vote, the council agreed to consider other options at its Nov. 4 meeting. The delay could cost taxpayers money, since the park already is under construction and installation of solar panels on the hill would have begun in a matter of weeks, officials said.

..."It's going to destroy our home values," Linda Pfost said of the solar panels. "It's going to destroy our neighborhood."

Residents said they had been promised an open hillside behind their homes when they bought and moved in 12 years ago, only to learn that a road would bisect the hill. They saw a sports park being planned behind the hill but were told the effect from field lights would be minimal. Recent installation of light poles close to the edge caused them to wonder. A carnival gave them a preview of possible noise from park activities. Now the city is about to put what one resident described as "football-field-size solar panels in someone's back yard."