Saturday, May 22, 2010

Earth Days - White House Solar Water Heaters

There was one part in the film Earth Days, a documentary about the creation of Earth Day, that struck me more than anything else in the film. In 1979 President Jimmy Carter took a huge step forward and had solar water heaters installed on the White House roof. In 1986 President Ronald Reagan had them removed. President Carter was actually very advanced for his time in terms of the environmental movement. He understood that the United States could not always rely on fossil fuels to meet their energy needs. At the time gas had gone from under ten dollars a barrel to over $30, changing the way a lot of people thought about energy resources. Carter believed this energy crisis did not have a quick fix. He knew it would take a long time and they needed to start researching renewable energy immediately or the problem would become increasingly worse into the next century. Besides installing solar panels at the White House to address this change the president began the Federal Solar Energy Institute who’s budget was doubled every year Carter was in office. They were well on their way to Carter’s goal for the United States to get at least 20% of its energy from renewables by 2000. However, as is obvious now, this goal has not been reached. Carter’s main downfall was his belief that Americans needed to decrease their standard of living by cutting down their energy use in order to solve the problem. Although this may be true, the majority of Americans did not want to hear this. The idea of lowering their standard of living felt like they were losing all the progress they had made in the last few decades. Besides when used to taking hot showers every morning it is horrifying to think of that right being taken away. I think a similar struggle is going on in many American hearts today. When Reagan began campaigning and told past Americans that this change in lifestyle was not necessary it was exactly what everyone wanted to hear. After Reagan was elected he cut the Federal Solar Energy Institute’s budget by 80% and fired half of workers and all contractors. He also, as we already know, had the White House’s solar heaters taken down, just to make a point. Electing a certain president makes a huge difference in the future of this country. How much less reliable on fossil fuels would we be if Jimmy Carter remained president for another term? Would the Bush’s have felt so inclined to instigate the wars in Iraq if the U.S. could supply our own energy? It is amazing how much influence this one decision has had on the United States.

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