Greenpeace installs solar panels on premier's roof

A crew from Greenpeace climbed onto the roof of Ralph Klein's home in Calgary Thursday morning and installed two solar panels there.

The panels are worth $1,000 and produce about 100 watts of electricity. The environmental activists also hung a banner reading, 'Solar Fights Drought. Kyoto Now.'

Alberta's premier wasn't told in advance about the 'gift' from the environmental organization and police arrived shortly after the work was completed.

Steven Guilbeault, a spokesperson for Greenpeace, says they want Klein to reconsider his opposition to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

That international agreement commits nations to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Klein has been speaking out against it saying it will cost Alberta's economy billions of dollars.

Guilbeault says they installed the solar panels because they wanted to make a point that "it's crucial to start the Canadian switch to clean energy."

"Look at what's happening in places like Japan," he says, "where 1 out of 10 households has a solar system either to produce electricity, to heat water, or to heat the air. This is what we're looking at, we're looking at diversifying our sources of energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to reduce the threat of climate change."

Guilbeault says his group will be watching closely the G-8 environment ministers' meeting that starts Friday in Banff.