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It was pretty shocking to me, learning that the White House had solar panels in the 70s!, and Reagan removed them when he came into office


While this is true, it's also true that they were pretty awful early thermal solar panels and Reagan removed them not to own the libs but because the roof was leaking. I doubt that this was politically motivated by Reagan, or that Reagan was generally cognizant of anything in 1986.


The symbolic impact of removing but not replacing them was nationally, even internationally, significant.

The "economics" of a particular roof repair are simply irrelevant in this context.


While that’s technically correct, they could have put them back

This is what Google says when asked about why the panels were removed:

“President Ronald Reagan had the White House solar panels removed in 1986 as part of his administration's broader opposition to government involvement in renewable energy and a belief that the free market, not the government, should drive energy policy. While the administration cited cost as a reason for not reinstalling them during roof repairs, the decision reflected Reagan's philosophy and his administration's cuts to renewable energy funding”

Not sure about the sources though. So I guess it’s debatable

Still interesting to realize that the US govt can zigzag so much, and that it’s not necessarily progressing in a specific direction


If I ran this board I would instantly and permanently ban people for quoting a discount robot. Why would you expect someone to engage in a conversation by proxy with Google AI Mode search results?




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