Things Change, and then Change Back

So, I was thinking of how we have a new president in the White House, and he is supposed to be much more "green" than the last, and this is a good thing. Maybe he can, with congress's help, at least make a passing attempt at stemming our rape of the environment. Maybe not. Either way, I feel I should put everything into perspective with this historical reference that illustrates, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In 1979, during a time of rampant inflation, what was then being called an "energy crisis," complaints about foreign oil dependency, and troubles in the middle east, President Jimmy Carter did what was, in its own way, a grand thing. He had solar panels installed on the roof of the White House. In a speech at the unveiling he said:

". . . and this dependence on foreign sources of oil, is of great concern to all of us. In the year 2000 the solar water heater . . . which is being dedicated today, supplying cheap, efficient energy, a generation from now this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one the greatest, and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American People."

Pretty stirring words, and one might say a step in the right direction, but, Carter would not be president forever, and the man who replaced him, Ronald Reagan, had them removed, for unknown reasons. Things change, then they change back. Politics in America will always be this way.

To further put things in context, let's follow the story further, and see that the bad guy is not always the bad guy, and the good guy not always good.

In 2003, George W. Bush, a decidedly not "green" politician, from a different party, and probably the farthest president from Jimmy Carter, ideology wise, had new solar panels installed on the White House, and did not announce it to the media, or make a speech, or have an unveiling. He just did it.

Now, my own loyalties lie with Carter above Bush, as I greatly admire the former, but it is worth mentioning that some politicians draw attention to the good they do, even what is mostly symbolic, and some do not, but no matter which way a thing is done, in a few years a new leader comes along, and things change again. Most times, they're merely changing back.