SANTA MONICA STEPS BACKWARDS ON SOLAR - CITY COUNCIL SURPRISINGLY VOTES TO MAKE SOLAR “LESS VISIBLE” IN WHAT HAS BEEN KNOWN AS ONE OF CALIFORNIA’S “GREENEST CITIES”

Global Green USA, Hundreds of Residents and Dozens of Businesses Disappointed in Precedent-Setting Move

Santa Monica, CA – July 1, 2009 – Last night, the Santa Monica City Council voted 4-1 to require solar panels to be installed in the "least visible" position from the street – a surprising backwards step for a city that was the first in the nation to purchase 100% of its electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

With this extra bureaucratic step, the City creates uncertainty as to whether a solar design will be permitted and creates an unnecessarily complex process for approval.  Developers and property owners will view this ordinance as a further cost to project development and therefore a project risk, deterring them from undertaking otherwise beneficial solar projects.  Several local solar installers who attended and spoke at the hearing, said that Santa Monica is the most difficult city to obtain permits from.  Councilmember Gleam Davis, the only member to vote in favor or removing the onerous provision stated that “the message we are sending may be solar is ugly.”

“Given Santa Monica’s otherwise robust solar policy and progressive sustainable agenda, it’s absolutely baffling that the City Council would embrace this barrier to solar installation,” said Global Green USA President Matt Petersen.  “Solar panels should be prominently featured and showcased on the rooftops of as many businesses as possible in order to combat global warming, and dramatically increase the energy we generate from clean, renewable power.  Since Santa Monica’s environmental policies are often emulated by cities throughout Southern California, this decision not only harms Santa Monica residents, but also sets a dangerous precedent.”

Global Green USA, a national, environmental non-profit organization headquartered in Santa Monica, gathered hundreds of petition signatures in just a couple of weeks and plans to appeal the Council’s decision.