I sort of skipped over this when it was first reported, but the more I think about it, the more interesting it seems:
After nearly three years, the White House began installing solar panels on the First Family’s residence this week, a White House official confirmed Thursday.
The Obama administration had pledged in October 2010 to put solar panels on the White House as a sign of the president’s commitment to renewable energy.
[. . .]
This is not the first time solar panels have graced the White House’s roof: President Jimmy Carter had 32 installed in the late 1970s to provide hot water, but President Ronald Reagan removed them in 1986. Then in 2003 President George W. Bush installed a photovoltaic system on a maintenance building and two solar thermal units. The system heated the White House swimming pool.
Carter puts 'em in, Reagan takes 'em out, Obama puts 'em back in, and Bush uses 'em to heat the damn swimming pool. And that is the modern political landscape in a nutshell.
