A little over a year ago, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and the Council of Environmental Quality announced that they were going to install solar panels and solar water heaters on the roof of the White House in hopes fellow Americans will follow the president's lead and install solar panels on their own homes. Secretary Chu stated that this installation is a "demonstration project showing that American solar technologies are available, reliable and ready for installation in homes throughout the country". However, a year later, the project is still in its preliminary stages.
Obviously, this seemingly lengthy and complicated process is not boosting Americans' willingness to take on solar technologies.
Meanwhile, at a public high school in San Mateo, California, we got our own solar panels installed within a matter of months. Let's all take a moment here and recognize that we're essentially more efficient than top council of the United States. Good job Aragon.
10 comments:
I'm glad Michelle blogged about this topic because I think it accurately reflects the current attitude towards environmental issues. I think many people (government and councils included) continually place other matters (financial, etc.) before environmental concerns, making it extremely difficult to do anything to improve current statuses. Also, because environmental degradation happens over a long period of time, people do not see the immediate effects and assume it is not something that merits concern right now. However, as events such as global warming and melting of the polar ice caps have warned, environmental issues are serious and are already happening, and they need to be addressed as quickly as possible. Continuing to place the environment in second or third place will ultimately reap negative direct consequences and externalities to everyone. That being said, agreeing with Michelle, I think Aragon did a great job installing solar panels on our campus.
To be fair, I don't think that the process to install solar panels took "just a matter of monthes", but instead was a gradual process that took place over the course of a couple years or so. I also think its unfair to categorize the "top council of the United States" as inefficient... they have a lot on their plate! Anyways, I agree with Jackie that steps do need to be taken in order to secure sources of renewable energy. I think it would be a step forward to see solar panels on the White House. It will be important seeing Obama using them instead of standing next to them.
I totally agree with Jacqueline. Environmental issues need to stop being pushed off and need to be dealt with now. I disagree with the notion that the "top council of the United States" is being inefficient just because they haven't installed solar panels. The whole process of Aragon getting solar panels took about 5-6 years, so saying that the White House is inefficient really doesn't hold true. Yes, if the President really wants to set an example, I believe that he should have installed them by now, but the reality is is that they are not installed.
I totally remembered that I left out the part about the months of planning that went into the installation of our solar panels. I just forgot to come back and change it. My bad.
Still, we're a public school and the WH is the principle workplace for the executives of our nation. They have SO much more resources and authority than us. So in the end, we still installed our solar panels in a relatively more efficient manner than the White House.
I agree with Alex. Installing solar panels is not as easy as it seems.
First, solar panels require huge sums of money, and with the economy's current situation, money definitely will not come as easily as it will to supply this environmental sector.
Second, the government does have a lot on their plate. Currently, they're spending a large portion of the budget on human welfare such as social security and Medicare. Also, we can't forget that trillions of dollars are provided for funding the war in the Middle East.
These are some of the factors that are currently preventing the nation to focus on the environment, even though it should be a top priority now than ever.
I think that this is an example of Obama trying to please the Republicans. He knows that if he does put solar panels on the White House, the Republicans will complain about his priorities and the money that he is spending even if it is for the good of the planet. I think that if a high school in surburan California,then the White House should as a symbol of the need to stop climate change. It needs to happen, but I doubt it will.
I think you really have to take into consideration all the other things the white house is in charge of before you start blaming them for being inefficient. Just as Alex said, solar panels take a huge amount of time to install and that is time that the government does not have. Aragon is in charge of educating a very small group of teenagers in the nation. The White House in contrast is responsible for all the problems across the nation, which don't just include environmental issues. The White House has to work to represent what the majority of Americans want. Whether you believe they are doing that or not is your decision but as it was states before, people are not very concerned with helping the environment right now, they'd much rather have their jobs back. I'm not saying that its right or wrong to think like that but I think most Americans would like to see the White House working on the economic situation than on solar panels.
I agree to an extent with everyone who has commented. Installing solar panels on the White House is probably not one of their top priorities. Adding to Dustan's point, I think that assuming that the White House is not being environmentally friendly. Installing the solar panels on the White House is aimed to set an example for American citizens. I'm sure Mr. Chu and the Council of Environmental Quality are working on plenty of other projects that actually enforce energy efficiency on a bigger scale.
Michelle brought up a really good point in this post--Not many people are gung-ho on environmental reform. But why? Is it because people are naturally opposed to change? Is it because people are just lazy and dont want to put in the effort to shift simple habits? Or is there some unseen variable that's discouraging people from being more eco-friendly? The point is, despite common belief, global warming is STILL prevalent and is STILL a massive threat to life on earth. It won't affect us today, or tomorrow, but environmentalism isnt about short-term benefits. Environmentalism is about long-term benefits.
But, getting back to the solar panel discussion, solar energy is one of the most valuable resources in the fight against global warming. Did you know that solar products generate 4x more jobs than do fossil fuel products? Critics of environmental reform argue that installing solar panels everywhere will be a hassle and will be too costly, yet, the statistics are clear. Over time, the installation of solar panels will reduce energy usage substantially, and, therefore, also reduce SPENDING while INCREASING job openings.
I see environmentalism as a valuable opportunity to benefit the earth while capitalizing at the same time. If America capitalizes on the green energy businesses BEFORE competitors like China and Japan, AMERICA will gain economic advantages in green markets. I really hope America will keep up its trend of staying relatively environmentally conscious.
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