Postscript
In 1980 I designed a passive solar house, based on my environmental engineering masters' thesis. Our builder was eager to learn solar design and went on to build dozens of similar houses over the next year in Franklin and Hampshire counties. Federal and state tax credits for solar heating stimulated local industry and jobs, including small building businesses, a rooftop solar hot water heater build/install industry, and so on. By the end of 1981, Ronald Reagan had removed the solar water panels from the White House roof and eliminated solar tax credits. Demand for solar house design declined; new niche solar companies closed up shop; and R&D funding for renewables -" the largest effort in the world between 1974 and 1981 - dried up. Reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear energy was re-instated as the direction of U.S. energy policy. Lesson learned: Federal and state policy is a determining factor in sustainable energy and our climate future, together with social demand and green business initiatives.
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