Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER
2
Empires of the Sun
Dirty Energy's Petty Politics
Thefossil-fuelindustryanditsalliesinCongressclearlyseethesolarandwind
industries as a threat and will try to kill these industries as they have for the
precedingtwogenerations.Theywantthistobeafive-yearaberrationalperiod.
—
CONGRESSMAN ED MARKEY,
WIRED
MAGAZINE, JANUARY 2012
P
ICTURE ME IN APRIL 2010, JUST OVER A YEAR AFTER
B
A
R
ACK
Obama's inauguration. I'm
at the White House representing Sungevity at a lavish Earth Day reception, where envir-
onmental champions, such as solar pioneer Denis Hayes, are being celebrated. (Oh, how
grand this all is: the manicured Rose Garden in bloom, the bow-tied servers, the slender
flutes of champagne, the tasty hors d'oeuvres—real treats for all us overworked and un-
derdressed activists and entrepreneurs.) After the ceremony, I and Rhone Resch, the head
of the Solar Energy Industries Association, move with the dazzled throng across the lawn
toward the president. As I approach, I'm not exactly sure what I'm going say to him. But
when face to face with the leader of the free world, I deliver the message that's been on
my mind since long before his election: “Mr. President, you should put solar panels back
on the White House.”
Obama doesn't skip a beat. He nods firmly. “Good idea, Let's do that,” he says before
being swallowed up by the wave of well-wishers.
Let's do that.
Hisresponseringsinmyears,andIrecoverfromthebriefconnectionoverastiffdrink
with some solar-industry friends at the bar on the South Lawn. Some of them had heard
the executive imprimatur I'd just received, and we all agree that the time is ripe for us to
urge the president to reinstate solar on the first family's home.
Thus we kicked into high gear what we would call the “Globama Campaign.” Our
teamatSungevityhadalreadysentFirstLadyMichelleObamaaninteractivequote,using
our proprietary satellite and aerial-imaging software to design and engineer a solar sys-
