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N0KFQ > TODAY 20.06.07 07:21l 40 Lines 1859 Bytes #-6358 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Jun 20
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To : TODAY@ALLUS
1979 : Solar-energy system installed at White House
President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter climb to
the White House roof to celebrate the installation of
solar-energy panels there on this day in 1979.
Carter presided over a nation still suffering from the fallout of
the 1973-74 Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
oil embargo. Carter, a proponent of alternative and sustainable
energy sources, put into practice what he preached and, in June
1979, had a $28,000 solar-heating system installed on the White
House roof. The system consisted of 32 photovoltaic panels that
generated enough energy to provide hot water for the entire White
House. During his term Carter also had an energy-efficient
wood-burning stove installed in the drafty White House
residential quarters.
In 1986, President Reagan had the solar panels removed and put
into a federal storage facility in Virginia, stating that the
energy crisis that had affected both foreign and domestic policy
during Carter’s term would not be a factor during his own. Both
the environmental organization Greenpeace and a college in Maine
asked to have the solar panels after they were taken down. As an
October 2004 Associated Press article reported, Greenpeace’s
request for the panels, which they wanted to use in a homeless
shelter, was ultimately rejected, and in 1992, the
conservation-minded Unity College of Maine installed them to use
for the generation of hot water in the student dining hall.
Former President Carter sent a congratulatory note to the college
saying he was glad the panels would be of some use.
By 2004, the solar panels had worn out. Unity College kept one of
the panels for "historical significance," donated another panel
to the Smithsonian Institute and offered the rest for sale.
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