Monday's Los Angeles Times editorial page declares war on the sun. No, not really; but the page wants to know whether the solar energy proposal on the March 3 ballot is the real thing, or just another "Million Trees":

Los Angeles should have an ambitious solar energy plan, and the DWP is right to pursue it, as are the council and the mayor. But because of the slapdash and suspicious way the program has been rolled out, voters need to be on the alert. The city muffed a solar plan a decade ago, and the resulting bad will delayed, until now, a serious second attempt. Voters deserve to know whether they are being asked to sign on to a well-thought-out plan, or just another idea only half-baked by the L.A. sunshine.

The editorial board also finds some common-sense lessons for Barack Obama in the draft report on Iraq reconstruction by the Bush administration's special inspector general, and hopes South Africa's Congress of the People will stave off one-party rule.

Opposite the editorial page, Opinion contributing editor Rob Long discusses Jay Leno, NBC, economic downturn and shipping. Critic Katha Pollitt weighs in on Rick Warren and Obama, calling the president-elect's choice to give the inauguration invocation an insult. Columnist Gregory Rodriguez grapples with Bernard L. Madoff, hate crimes and "affinity fraud."

* Photo by Andrew Gombert / EPA