The election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, however, decimated the solar revolution in America. Driven by a conservative ideology that favored free markets and limited government intervention, Reagan dismantled much of the solar infrastructure built up over the previous decade. For secretary of energy, he appointed James Edwards, a dentist with no expertise or interest in developing nascent energy technology.26 Solar R&D spending under Reagan fell by over 60 percent his first year in office.27 Some of the dismantling was painfully literal: in 1986, Reagan removed the solar hot-water panels
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