An August 24th Washington Post article corrects one assertion that some of us -- which may or may not include Thom -- have been repeating: namely, that upon assuming office Ronald Reagan removed the solar panels on the White House roof that had been installed by Jimmy Carter.
According to that article, the solar panels were removed in 1996 -- well into Reagan's second term -- during a renovation of the White House roof.
There's no question that Reagan's environmental policy -- spearheaded by James Watt -- cut funding for renewable energy from the first year. (My sister, who ran a state solar program, lost her job on that account.) Still, our credibility depends upon the accuracy of our claims, so we should be careful not to misrepresent the history of those ill-fated solar panels.
jmk