This is my first time writing a diary here, and decided maybe this one would not inflame too many souls even though it is a hot topic.
I was motivated to write this after reading about solar panels going back up on the White House.
We, as a country really need to think more about Green Energy/Clean energy and so thought I would share our experience in making the decision to go solar.
The President's National Oil Spill Commission released preliminary findings today from its investigation into BP's oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Read more about how the White House hid the truth on the spill, and what we know now.
Just in time to give the Global Work Party a White House-sized boost, the Obama administration announced this morning that they are going to put solar panels on the First Family's living quarters, returning to a tradition begun by president Jimmy Carter and abandoned by Ronald Reagan.
Jimmy Carter started it all by installing solar panels on the White House and pushing hard for renewables and energy independence.
Then came Reagan/Bush and 30 years of a Republican-driven agenda and the U.S. went from being on the forefront of the renewables industry to being a laggard.
Great news from The Atlantic-
White House Agrees to Talk About Solar Panels on the Roof
Environmentalist Bill McKibben has been campaigning for the last few weeks to get solar panels put back on the roof of the White House.
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From a press release this morning:
McKibben has been in back and forth negotiations with the White House for the last 48 hours to push for them to accept the panel and show they have a plan to get solar back on the White House roof -- a California solar company, Sungevity, has already offered to install a new set for free. As of Thursday morning the Administration has offered to meet with McKibben and his team and says they are discussing the proposal to put solar back on the White House roof.
Amid the heated rhetoric about the administration that’s dominating the site at the moment, here’s a potential chance to help with a very concrete project.
Sometimes, your kids tell you great things.
We have the coolest house on the street.
Wow. We're cool -- according to the kids. Certainly isn't the non-existent slide for the pool that isn't there. Our lack of a huge media room and the glaring absence of a gym didn't contribute. And, while I've always thought it cool that we live on the white house of the street, that isn't it either. Why is it cool? According to my soon-to-be fourth-grader son:
The roof, that is ...
Received a phone call earlier today from my better 95+%
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Dominion Virginia Power staff were at my home, at that moment, upgrading the meter to be able to handle net metering. Fingers crossed ... with tomorrow's dawn, my roof will be part of the power generation system covering over 90 percent of my family's electricity usage. A bit more investment (both in terms of sweat and some $s) in energy efficiency, continuing tightening of our own attention to energy use, and we might be soon covering 100% of our power requirements.
My rooftop has solar hot water and solar pv.
It is unique, on both accounts, in my neighborhood.
Being unique isn't always good ... it isn't good in this case.
This news is also breaking...
Today, the President held a private meeting with key people in the current energy/climate debate in the Senate.
Muted Outcome from White House Energy Meeting
The statement reflects no wavering by Obama on his insistence that "the best way for us to transition to a clean energy economy is with a bill that makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses by putting a price on pollution."
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Here’s the White House statement:The meeting the President hosted with a bipartisan group of Senators was a constructive exchange about the need to pass energy and climate legislation this year that lasted more than an hour-and-a-half. The President made clear his view that a full transition to clean energy will require more than just the government action we’ve taken so far. It will require a national effort from all of us to change the way we produce and use energy.
This Wednesday, President Obama is scheduled to meet with about a dozen Democratic and Republican Senate leaders on developing a comprehensive energy bill that can get through Congress.
Leading up to that meeting, we all need to contact these Senators (see contact information below) - Harry Reid, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, Lindsey Graham, Richard Lugar, Barbara Boxer, Jeff Bingaman, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Judd Gregg, Sherrod Brown, Maria Cantwell, Jay Rockefeller, and Debbie Stabenow - and let them know how strongly we feel about this issue. A few key points to emphasize as we make our calls and write our emails.
It's this diary and it's about what the White House administration is planning to do to BP. The White House is correct in their approach to BP in this instance. Here's an excerpt below:
The White House announced earlier morning that President Obama will address the nation from the Oval Office on Tuesday night about Oilmageddon--and lay down the law to BP. Apparently Obama wants BP to set aside significant funds to compensate victims of the spill.
President Obama for the first time will address the nation about the ongoing oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday night and outline his plans to legally force BP executives to create an escrow account reserving billions of dollars to compensate businesses and individuals if the company does not do so on its own, a senior administration official said on Sunday.
"The president will use his legal authority to compel them," said Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman.