London’s Mayor Pushes Solar Panels
London’s lefty mayor, known (either fondly or derisively, depending on whom you talk to) as “Red Ken” Livingstone, is calling for the “vast majority” of new homes built in London to include photovoltaic solar panels. The requirement is part of a set of strict building and planning rules for local authorities that will go into effect next month. The plan is being released on the heels of a World Wildlife Fund study showing that Britain’s leading house-construction firms are not using sustainable building practices. Industry groups protested the rules, saying that focusing on upgrading old housing stock would be more efficient. Livingstone has installed solar panels on the roof of his own London home. “[A]ll day long I am giving energy back to the national grid,” he boasted.
