Santa Monica Wants Solar Panels on New Developments

Santa Monica is getting very serious about solar power--after a city council vote this week, staffers have been asked to include a request that new developments build as many rooftop panels as possible in all future development agreements. Councilmember Ted Winterer proposed the idea, saying "there are a lot of development agreements in front of us and this is our chance to gain the maximum amount of PV possible out of those agreements," according to the Santa Monica Mirror. Mayor Pam O'Connor worried that the city might be going overboard with its requests to developers, but Winterer countered that he'd learned at a recent workshop that investing in green features like solar panels can provide a healthy return (knowledge is power, people!). The council agreed that the request would be flexible and not mandate a certain number of panels or amount of electricity to be generated. Here's hoping June Gloom doesn't throw Santa Monica's climate change-averting efforts into chaos.
· Santa Monica City Council Wants Future Developments To Be More Solar Friendly [SMM]