Getting it wrong and getting corrected: On Al Gore's solar panels

Glenn Reynolds puts all his legal training to to work, digs in and does some research to come up with the facts surrounding this post.

... Gore is moving forward with plans for solar panels to help power his mansion.
[...]
I've given Gore a lot of well-deserved grief - on this blog over his use of "carbon offsets" to present himself as "carbon neutral" even as he continues to consume large quantities of carbon-based energy, but he deserves praise for trying now to "walk the walk" and live the way he has long urged others to live in terms of using clean, renewable energy.

Reynolds contribution? Well, a boost.

AFTER ALL THE FLAK HE GOT for his Belle Meade mansion's energy use, Al Gore is installing solar panels. Ecototality has a report, and photo.

I was a little suspicious of this, particularly after the link provided in Ecototality's post indicated that there was a zoning problem surrounding Al Gore's desire to put solar panels on the roof of his house.

So I went to my reality-based environmental science type to see what was being said there. Sure enough, Coeruleus did what neither Reynolds nor Ecototality seemed to want to bother with: real research.

Gore wanted to install solar panels as part of a renovation project he undertook shortly after he bought his house. Though his electric utility would have allowed him to do that, local zoning rules prohibited solar panels. Since these rules were changed two weeks ago he's now applying for a permit, but he may not get it because the roof on his house is not flat.