President Obama isn’t the first president to go green. Jimmy Carter installed a set of solar panels on the roof of the presidential residence back in 1979.
From Carter’s initiative in 1979, to Reagan’s removal of the panels in 1986, to George W. Bush’s quiet installment of panels to heat the presidential cabana and spa, to the fanfare surrounding Obama’s present decree, the White House has served as a model to the larger body of citizens.
“By installing solar panels on arguably the most famous house in the country, his residence, the president is underscoring that commitment to lead, and the promise and importance of renewable energy in the United States,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, in a Department of Energy press release.
Environmental organization 350.org brought an old panel removed from the Carter roof to Obama’s doorstep on Sept. 10. The panel was an invitation to the Global Work Party being thrown by the organization on Oct. 10. This will be a global day of clean energy action.
Obama won’t be the only president at the party. The president of the Maldive Islands, Mohamed Nasheed, will also be able to sink into a bathtub of water heated by solar energy on Oct. 10.
