I grew up ten miles from Berkeley, California, and thus am well-versed in their hippie ways.   Did you know, for instance, that Berkeley is a nuclear-free zone?  It’s true!   I mean, I don’t think the signs announcing that will help if someone else decides to make the Bay Area a nuclear zone for whatever horrible reason, but points for effort.   Also, what about the Lawrence-Livermore Lab?  But you know what?  I had a point to all this that I should get around to telling you.

Berkeley’s City Council, in its progressive (that’s a better word than hippie, isn’t it) form, approved yesterday loans to property owners for installing solar panels on their roofs.   All joking aside, this is awesome news.   The reason many people don’t invest in solar energy is the initial investment, and this could literally wipe out that problem.   The New York Times reports that the loans will probably be up to $22,000 apiece, and be paid back over 20 years as part of the homeowner’s property tax.

The city is going to run a pilot program first, in which $1.5 million will be raised, and approximately 50 loans will be given out.   Assuming the success of the test run (and I think we can only assume this will be a success), “the kitty could eventually contain tens of millions of dollars, and hundreds of property owners could be eligible to participate.”

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When Will Ferrell installed solar panels on his home, he tapped into star power, too; through the BP Solar Neighbors Program, Ferrell’s solar power purchase sponsored the installation of a 48-panel solar system for the St. George Hotel, a permanent residence for the formerly homeless run by the Skid Row Housing Trust.

The St. George’s solar system was unveiled today by actor/director Ed Norton, who helped create the BP Solar Neighbors Program, and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The Solar Neighbors Program donates a solar system to a low income family for each solar system installed by a celebrity. Norton explained the program’s mission:

“Many people perceive environmentally friendly practices as costly and available only to the wealthy. We need to expand our awareness of the many ways environmentally sustainable development and construction can apply to affordable housing. The installation of the BP solar panels on the St.George is a great example of a dynamic solution to our intensifying economic and environmental crisis.”

Norton’s green do-goodiness is in his DNA; he’s on the board of the Enterprise Community Partners, a non-profit co-founded by his grandfather, James Rouse. Enterprise, whose goal is “to see that all low-income people in the United States have the opportunity for fit and affordable housing and to move up and out of poverty into the mainstream of American life,” is a partner in the BP Solar Neighbors Program. How’s that for a shining example of the golden rule?

Learn more about Enterprise’s excellent endeavor at enterprisecommunity.org.