De Blasio to Fix Broken New York Schools by Putting Solar Panels on Roofs

howbadp

Liberals love putting solar panels on things. Obama put solar panels on the roof of the White House. His VA Sec put solar panels on the roofs of VA hospitals. If there’s anything that can’t be fixed by putting solar panels on it, liberals don’t want to know about it.

A lot of New York City schools are in terrible shape. But there’s nothing that can’t be solved by putting solar panels on their roofs.

New York City is making a major investment in solar energy at public schools, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday.

The mayor said solar panels will soon be installed at a total of 24 schools around the boroughs. The $28 million investment is part of the city’s green buildings plan.

Bill de Blasio said the climate protests and United Nations summit held in New York City made last week an important one.

“A week we’re going to look back on, not only in New York City but around the globe, as having been a turning point,” he said.

Meanwhile in the real world, New York City schools are a disaster area.

The isolated building sits a block and a half from the beach, surrounded by vacant, weed-choked lots, the road behind it strewn with trash bags and broken TVs.

PS 106 classes still don’t have the books or teacher’s guides. Teachers muddle through by printing out worksheets they find online, buying their own copy paper.

About 40 kindergartners have no room in the three-story brick building. They sit all day in dilapidated trailers that reek of “animal urine,” a parent said; rats and squirrels noisily scamper in the walls and ceiling.

I bet they’ll love the solar panels though. The rats and squirrels can play on them.

  • Patriot077

    Beyond disgusting, especially knowing that this “green” movement is nothing but a money laundering operation and jobs for his patrons.
    They could give a rip about the education and welfare of these kids and it is nauseating.

    • http://dagootness.tumblr.com/ sule

      Disgusting how? America’s future competitiveness requires us to maintain dominance in science and technology, engineering and math (STEM). This type of initiative supports STEM education – kids like this stuff, and it’s a pathway to their engagement in later years. That said, education and welfare will be dealt with through other, related initiatives. Folks are reading into this news too literally.

      • Patriot077

        I agree that STEM is critical. But have strong doubts that it is being delivered in our curriculum. A strong foundation in learning and critical thinking is the first priority to achieve optimum results in the technology studies.
        This solar panel escapade is a joke and it isn’t funny for the parents of the kids attending these so called “schools”.

        • http://dagootness.tumblr.com/ sule

          Not being an educator in NY, I don’t know to what extent STEM is delivered there, but your point is well taken. Teaching critical thinking is key.

          Why exactly are they “so called schools”? Do you have a particular gripe? And again, if efficiency is implemented first, I don’t see how this would be considered an escapade or a joke. The science is very real, as are the financial benefits. Perhaps you don’t agree, but the facts are the facts.

          • Patriot077

            Why do I call them “so called schools”

            “PS 106 classes still don’t have the books or teacher’s guides. Teachers muddle through by printing out worksheets they find online, buying their own copy paper.

            About 40 kindergartners have no room in the three-story brick building. They sit all day in dilapidated trailers that reek of “animal urine,” a parent said; rats and squirrels noisily scamper in the walls and ceiling.”
            Does this sound like an environment where even good teachers can successfully teach?
            I don’t debate that there can be some savings over a long period of time, however I believe it to be more critical to our students learning years to give them a solid foundation. They can’t wait year after year and stay interested in education. When they are lost, they become a long term human tragedy.
            Too many of these “green projects” are merely avenues to direct tax dollars to favored contractors.
            That’s my opinion. And I’ve seen too many kids have their hopes and dreams crushed by a bureaucratic educational system that does not make students their priority.

          • http://dagootness.tumblr.com/ sule

            Having been a teacher many years ago, I completely agree that a strong foundation is critical. However, correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t the schools’ capital and education budgets separate, and have nothing to do with each other? You don’t spend X dollars on either a. new windows OR b. new books? Different pots of money, so I think that argument’s moot.

            In my experience, most “green projects” come from capital improvement budgets, foundation grants, ESCOs, bulk procurements, PPAs and lots of other leveraged financing vehicles, which when combined together can form a pretty complex “capital stack.” Only the former is derived from the tax base, and it’s not a particularly useful one for many municipalities. Also, even in “liberal” areas, bean counters are pretty conservative so a deal has to make financial sense. As for favored contractors, do you have facts to support this assertion? Sounds a little like speculation. And please don’t mention Solyndra, such a one-off, anomalous situation entirely un-indicative of the industry that it doesn’t bear repeating.

            To be honest, in my neck of the woods, quite a few of the solar companies are actually owned by conservative contractors/roofers/electricians that are expanding their business offerings. They compete on projects just like everyone else. I actually first learned about the technology from back-to-the-woods self-sufficient folks my dad knew through hunting, the ones that dislike government period. Are they corrupt progressive libtards too? Seems that since Obama came into office, every conservative idea that he’s found value in is instantly lumped into some commie/socialist/muslim/greenwacko conspiracy bucket. It’s very confusing to outsiders, this switch. I always wonder if Reagan had promoted solar and Carter was against it, what the conversation would be like today.

          • Patriot077

            Look, I’m not that interested in this topic, so I’m not going to pick apart each point you make. I will say that if solar is a “capital expenditure” from the “capital budget”, for my money, the “capital” would be better spent on the school structures to keep the rats and vermin out. Or perhaps they need to realign the expenditures under “education” and “capital” to appropriately reflect where the money is most urgently needed. It is not on solar panels in my opinion. You have your ideology to protect. I have a far different view and I will not be wasting any more of my time on this issue with you.

          • http://dagootness.tumblr.com/ sule

            Nice, now I’m an ideologue. You counter by feigning disinterest when facts surrounding the actual process enter the discussion, then retreat. Admittedly, you’re not that interested in the topic. I suppose you just took it as a chance to levy your opinions against things you don’t appear to understand very well. Typical.

          • Patriot077

            I said it was my opinion. I don’t care if you agree or not. Time will tell which one of us could see the forest for the trees.

  • glpage

    Hey, why try to give the kids a better education? That defeats the leftist movement to the lowest common denominator. Solar panels, now that’s something leftists like because it looks like they’re doing something to fix some problem. They don’t care that it’s a fix for a nonexistent problem.

  • fatebekind

    Didn’t the VA have a similar program?

    • UCSPanther

      Could be an excellent metaphor for expensive window-dressing.
      It is like having a building with severe structural problems and a crumbling foundation, but instead of fixing the building, the owner instead blows money on solar panels and other fancy upgrades while hiding the rot.

      • http://dagootness.tumblr.com/ sule

        The city is upgrading the building envelopes and HVAC and lighting systems first, then installing solar. The press releases should have been more explicit in stating that.

    • http://batman-news.com Richard Trank

      Yes. They’re run by those rats and squirrels

    • fatebekind

      Wow, I was so tired and distracted that I didn’t notice the third sentence mentioned the VA and solar panels. My reading comprehension is shot.

  • UCSPanther

    Great. Now a ghetto school will have green energy while its walls are infested with the local wildlife (as in rodents).

  • TL2014

    Would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic…

  • http://ruleofreason.blogspot.com/ Edward Cline

    “The rats and squirrels can play” on those solar panels. Also urinate on them, too. Store nuts beneath them, and rats can build nests beneath them. And other varmints can make use of them. But they won’t be doing the occupants much good.

  • wileyvet

    How about round up all the socialists/commies and enviro whack jobs and force them onto giant Hamster wheels to produce clean energy. Feed them healthy seeds and cut their rations if they don’t make their quota of energy production. These losers didn’t seem to have a problem with ideas like that when Stalin wanted the White Sea Canal built or his Death Train, or the gold mining in the Kolyma gulag system. Communist subversion, Communist infiltration in every sphere of American life has a stranglehold far exceeding the most sanguine of 40s and 50s era Soviet Reds.

  • Biff Henderson

    Will the environmental impact statement address my concern that the solar panels do not pose a danger to the rats and squirrels? Children can be replaced. Once the rat and squirrel gene pools are decimated there’s no going back.

  • Gamal

    Well at least it looks like by 2020 solar panels will break even and produce as much energy as it took to make them. http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/solar-panels-now-make-more-electricity-they-use

  • Gamal

    Correction it looks like that solar panels made after 2010 produce more energy than was used to make them. http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/solar-panels-now-make-more-electricity-they-use

  • http://dagootness.tumblr.com/ sule

    Perhaps the the author (and many of the commenters here) should have taken a few moments to conduct some research. This announcement is only a small part of a comprehensive, multi-year retrofit plan across the city’s entire portfolio. The plan requires that energy efficiency and conservation improvements be made first, followed by the installation of onsite energy production technologies that also increase the city’s resiliency to natural and man-made disasters. Though not mentioned in the press releases, I understand the solar will be procured through third-party power purchase agreements, a very common way governments and large corporations buy energy. This means no upfront costs for the city, so they can spend funds on other areas of need, like books and rat abatement, assuming their capital budgets and operations budgets can be commingled. More background here: http://c40.org/case_studies/new-york-city-government-leading-by-example and here: http://www.energymanagertoday.com/3000-ny-city-buildings-get-energy-retrofits-0105144/

    Too many political ideologues (on both sides) lack a fundamental understanding of basic science and math, as well as how energy is made and sold, and how governments function under these scenarios. Solar works, today. It is financially-viable, creates local jobs, and improves self-sufficiency for a couple of decades. It’s part of a larger energy strategy being adopted by one of America’s economic powerhouses in order to make it more efficient and globally competitive. These are all things conservatives typically support. What’s the problem, exactly?

  • http://dagootness.tumblr.com/ sule

    @nahalkides:disqus The solar panels will be interconnected onto the local distribution grid. When the sun isn’t shining, the grid continues to supply power uninterrupted. When there’s a net gain from solar (ie on sunny weekends when the building load is minimal), the grid will receive the excess. Research “net-metering” and “grid interconnection” of distributed generation assets. Also, these schools likely use natural gas (or oil) boilers, not electric heat, so your joke fails there.

    • http://www.stubbornthings.org NAHALKIDES

      Proving once again that Progressives have no sense of humor. Look, the plain fact is that for most purposes, solar energy is highly impractical. I don’t want it legally banned, as your side would, but I want it to stop receiving subsidies of my money. Let it compete in a free market for energy. In a few places, it will probably be used. In NYC? Forget it! Space is too valuable and solar energy requires way too much of it – one of the reasons (aside from its unreliability) it’s not generally practical.

      • http://dagootness.tumblr.com/ sule

        I have no side, except the one with facts and sound justification to support the approach. With over 20 years in the energy field, I can tell you for a fact that the energy sector has never been a free market. It has always been subsidized, and even mature technologies remain subsidized to a large extent. You may support abolishment of all energy subsidies, with which I would agree.

        You also might appreciate a concession on the space argument; photovoltaics aren’t the ideal application in a tall building with multiple tenants since their electrical load is too great. If anything, use it for common areas. It’s still probably better there to use gas-fired CHP with solar thermal preheating for water and air (just as DoD does at facilities around the globe, and long before Obama. Why? Because it’s proven, cost-effective technology that meets their goals of supporting mission-critical facilities and assets). One thing solar is not though, is unreliable. Variable yes, but unreliable no.