Ecorazzi

Back in 1979, President Jimmy Carter did the unthinkable: He installed solar panels on top of the White House. The green addition was used to heat water for the staff eating era — and usher in a new era in American innovation and independence from foreign fossil fuels.

Regan had the panels removed during a roof in repair in 1986 — and as a symbol of where we are today, never had them reinstalled. They were later found in government storage, and with a little help from actress Glen Close, used to heat water in the cafeteria of Unity College until 2005

Now, those same panels are the subject of a new documentary called A Road Not Taken, which uses their story as a backdrop to highlight “American oil dependency and the political lack of will to pursue alternative energy.”

From the article,

“In the movie, the two took one solar panel from Unity, placed it in the back of two students’ 1990 Dodge Ram pick-up truck that was retrofitted to run on vegetable oil and delivered it to the Jimmy Carter Library & Museum in Atlanta. Keller was even able to hook up the solar panel to the pick-up truck to heat hot water for a shower before the institution took formal possession of the panel last year.”

The film will be screened July 13 and 18th as part the Maine International Film Festival in Waterville.

via boston.com