I'm not going to go into a discussion of how eco-riffic I am. I will say this: we have one solar panel. Four would take care of all our needs but the cost is too high. If Arnold Schwarzenegger had put his money where is mouth is and invested more money in subsidizing solar power then we might be able to have our house run entirely on solar power.
Oh look at who is making an appearance at Live Earth: if it isn't the governator himself.
(Not to mention that Arnold came into office as a result of Republican corporate business interests taking advantage of the Enron-manufactured California energy crisis, which was still never a crisis because people responded by conserving and conservation works people so we don't need more refineries or power plants . . . but don't get me going.)
There is no reason why solar power shouldn't be easily affordable to most citizens of California by now other than a lack of commitment. Everything is available: it is just too expensive because it is too new and too small of an industry. There has been some state investment but not enough.
Schwarzenegger has been in office long enough that if he'd really wanted this to happen it could have happened. He is governor of the state with the most progressive environmentalist population. He has been riding on their achievements rather than using them as a basis to achieve something great of his own.
