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Unity College donates White House solar panel to the Smithsonian
As the Obama administration pledges billions of dollars to develop renewable energy sources - to protect the environment and promote business careers - it may be worth taking a look back at the times when such technologies were in their early stages.
In 1979, a total of 32 solar panels were installed on the roof of the White House under the Solar America initiative undertaken by President Jimmy Carter. Now Unity College, which refurbished them for its own purposes in 1991, has given one of the panels to The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
The executive mansion used the panels to heat kitchen water in what Harry Rubenstein, chair of the division of politics and reform at the Smithsonian, calls an act "of an American president leading by example to promote his administration's agenda."
"It displays how President Carter reinforced his policies through a personal gesture taking place in his own home," he adds.
Solar and other renewable energy technologies have made tremendous progress since then, yet much remains to be done.
This, and the increasing investment in clean energy promised by the current administration, ensures rewarding business career prospects for individuals with a variety of green skills.
For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that demand for environmental engineers will grow by 25 percent a year until at least 2016, and interested candidates have a variety of masters and doctoral programs to choose from where they can obtain such a degree. 
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