Yes, that was the technology at the time. By creating a wedge issue like "solar panels are unsightly" or "wind farms kill birds", politicians undermine good science and good economic ideas to please their donors.

every joules the heating panels used to heat water is 1 joules not needed to be burned with fossil fuels.

Thanks for the details. Still good and saving fossil fuels.

PV wasn’t economically feasible at smaller scale until relatively recently, but that doesn’t mean that preheating water for heating or domestic hot water is a waste of time. It can save considerable costs and fossil fuel consumption.

Yes but it was still a step in the right direction that could have led to more steps. Who is to say even Bush wouldn't have looked at those every day before deciding "let's do the new electric ones" or whatever.

I swear some people are just "100% perfect progress NOW or NOTHING, ITS SHIT WHY THESE PEOPLE ARE ALL TERRIBLE.

It is still energy independence. To heat water, you can either use the sun for free or buy/extract petrochemicals

Which, had they been left in place, would have been replaced by PV panels when the tech became viable. And, there would have been another photo op.

Obviously, this was meant to illustrate the position of the administration on this subject. The same way removing them illustrates the Republican position.

Remember when Bush said he didn't like broccoli? Like it or not, our politicians are influences, some would say the OG influences.