Green White House: Obama Continues Bush, Clinton Tradition

For my Republican friends who enjoy riffing on the "Change We Can Believe In" slogan, here's another toy to play with: President Obama's greening of the White House continues a recent tradition of environmental innovations at the presidential mansion.

• Mrs. Obama and some friendly fifth-graders helped break ground on the new White House victory garden Friday before last, but former White House chief usher Gary Walters tells AP's Nancy Benac that under the previous couple administrations, the First Lady's garden grew herbs and container gardens on the roof provided tomatoes, peppers, and other veggies.
• President Obama likes to shut off lights that aren't in use around the house. The Bush II Administration made that possible, replacing an old bank-lighting system with better room-by-room controls.
• The ground around the Obamas' new South Dakota Rainbow swingset (quite green itself!) is covered with cushy recycled rubber tire bits. The preceding residents also pushed recycling of paper indoors.

The White House has led home greenification recently in some other ways:

• President Clinton's 1993 Earth Day initiative implemented "improvements in lighting, heating, air conditioning, insulation, water sprinklers and other measures" that saved $1.4 million in six years (that explains the budget surplus ;-) ).
• Clinton's White House started (and Bush continued) the White House switch to compact fluourescent bulbs.
  
• Bush promoted solar at the White House, with solar heating units for the grounds maintenance building.
• The Bush White House switched to low-flow toilets and, in an innovation more lawn-nuts around here need, a automatic sprinkler system hooked to a weather monitor to keep from watering the grass in the rain.

It's good to know that the White House under both parties has been trying to set a good example. Keep up the good work, Mr. President!