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!

Obamas Start White House Victory Garden

Forget the Rose Garden: First Lady Michelle Obama is starting a vegetable garden at the White House. It sounds like Mrs. Obama plans to use the garden as a demonstration garden (my lovely wife will love this!) to teach local kids about the benefits of growing your own food. Kids from Bancroft Elementary School will help with the garden from planting time to chow time, and Mrs. Obama says the President himself will help pull weeds.

This garden is just what sustainability activists were hoping for. There is no downside to knowing the leader of the free world will get to eat some homegrown food. Plus, there is important symbolism (as the Obama Foodorama notes) in seeing at least a small part of the President's 16-acre yard turned from decoration to practical use. It's even right next to the kids' new South Dakota swingset, where it can remind the kids that if we want to eat, we have to take care of the earth.

Eleanor Roosevelt planted the last Victory Garden on the White House grounds during World War II, over the objections of the USDA, which feared the garden might hurt the food industry. Yeah, sure wouldn't want people growing their own food and better nutrition and more self-reliance. Think of Mrs. Obama's gardening initiative as a new Victory Garden to promote healthy food, sustainable agriculture, and good old American do-it-yourself spirit.

Kephart, Goeman, Obama Top Local Polls

So Sam Kephart, Rod Goeman, and Barack Obama walk into a bar... if only!

All three of those men did jump the highest bar of public support in our local polls. Kephart topped the choices in the Madville Times South Dakota GOP Senate primary, while Goeman drew the most support in our Lake County GOP primary for County Commission. Chris Giles and Scott Pedersen tied for second: if they can repeat that feat at the polls June 3, they'll join Goeman as the three standard bearers for local Republicans against Dems Craig Johannsen and Gene Anderson.
Meanwhile, news director Dylan Hunter* provides the final numbers for the KJAM presidential poll, conducted over the past couple weeks:

1. Barack Obama: 42.4% (87 votes)
2. John McCain: 33.5% (69)
3. Hillary Clinton: 18.9% (39)
4. Ron Paul: 5.3% (11)

I guess the Madison/KJAM-listening audience doesn't quite have the same political preferences as our small-town West Virginia counterparts.

A reminder: I make no pretense to science with these polls. But if you think about it, elections themselves are far from scientific. The winners are those who get their people to show up. So keep showing up here at the Madville Times -- more polls to come!

*By the way, Dylan Hunter can play dobro, slide guitar, and mandolin, and he's looking for musicians to jam with! Pickers and grinners, give Dylan a ring at the station (256-4514). Talk about Discovering the Unexpected™... at KJAM!