Bill McKibben, founder of the green group 350.org, is on a quest to convince President Barack Obama to put solar panels back on the roof of the White House.
He's at the end of a journey to Washington from Maine in a van fired by biodiesel carrying one of the 32 panels Jimmy Carter unveiled in 1979 during the first press conference on the White House roof.
Also in the van are students from Unity College, which got the the panels some time after President Ronald Reagan, no fan of alternative energy, had workers remove the panels during "roof repairs" in 1986.
McKibben had hoped to meet with somebody high up in the Obama administration such as Carol Browner, Obama's top energy and climate aide. He's been talking all week with the White House's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on the plan.
"They keep saying it's complicated and difficult, but compared with the other tasks they face, we think this one is relatively simple and it would be a great statement," McKibben said via cell phone from the van.
