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Former President Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 100, left behind a history of pioneering energy and environmental policy.
In his one term in the Oval Office, Carter took a series of actions on issues that remained influential long after his presidency ended, from imposing new wilderness protections to creating the Department of ‘Federal energy during the recurring energy crises of the 1970s.
Carter formally created the department in August 1977, seven months into his presidency, when he signed the Department of Energy Organization Act. The law consolidated a number of existing agencies under the umbrella of the new federal department. The reorganization was largely in response to the 1973 oil crisis, during which the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) imposed an embargo against nations that had supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War the same month
Amid national anxiety over energy supplies, Carter was also an early advocate of energy efficiency and, specifically, the use of renewable energy to achieve America’s energy independence. One of his most visible efforts was the installation of 32 solar panels on the roof of the White House in 1979. The installation came two years after the establishment of tax credits for homeowners who install they wash solar water heaters.
In his remarks to mark his installation, he expressed concerns that remain relevant in 2024 about America’s dependence on foreign energy imports and called for the US to obtain 20 percent of its energy of the lot for the year 2000.
“Solar energy will not pollute the air or the water. We will not be short. No one can embargo the Sun or interrupt its delivery,” Carter said.
The 39th president’s emphasis on energy efficiency is often remembered as emblematic of his pleas to Americans to make some material sacrifices for the greater good, in contrast to the upbeat tone of his successor, Ronald Reagan, who defeated in a landslide in 1980. The panels were eventually removed from the White House under Reagan, an action often cited as reflecting this contrast, although their removal. it was not completed until 1986, halfway through Reagan’s second term and months after the solar tax credit expired. One set of panels was reinstalled decades later under former President Obama.
Despite his emphasis on renewable energy, Carter was also a big booster of the nation’s coal industry. He was elected by a Democratic coalition that included Southern and Appalachian mineworkers who today are solidly Republican, and he promoted coal as a resource that would make America less dependent on Middle Eastern oil.
“I’d rather burn a ton of Kentucky coal than see our nation become dependent on buying another barrel of OPEC oil,” he said in a 1979 speech in the Bluegrass State, referring to the blog of major oil producing nations. He made a similar note in a 1978 speech, saying, “For now, we have no choice but to continue to depend heavily on fossil fuels, and coal is our most abundant fossil fuel.” In a 1980 campaign speech in Illinois, he told union miners, “My goal as president of the United States is to see in world energy markets Arab oil replaced by Illinois coal.”
Carter also leaves an expansive conservation legacy, including his 1978 signing of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), which created 10 new national parks and preserves in the state comprising 56 million of acres During his presidency, he created 39 new national parks. The National Park Service named him an honorary ranger of the National Park in 2016.
As recently as 2022, the 97-year-old former president intervened in environmental disputes in Alaska, filing an appeal against a road planned by Alaska’s Izembek National Wildlife Refuge that would connect the towns of King Cove and Cold Bay. On appeal, Carter said building the road would violate ANILCA, writing that a previous 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision allowing it “is not only deeply wrong, it’s dangerous “. The Biden administration announced its support for the road in November.
Carter, an engineer by training, also countered his fellow Democrats in Congress with plans to eliminate multiple federal water projects that he believed were a financial waste and harmful to rivers.
“(And) if your interest was rational management of the nation’s limited natural and financial resources, many of his decisions seemed sound,” historian Rick Perlstein wrote in his book “Reaganland.” “But what seemed like an inexplicable mistake to an engineer often seemed like a matter of life and death to the congressmen in whose districts those projects were located.”
Among those who balked was former Rep. Mo Udall (D-Ariz.), who said “Tucson and Phoenix would dry up and blow up” if Carter’s planned “hit list” went through.
Congress and the Carter White House eventually reached an agreement in which 18 projects on the list saw their funding cut, but nine others were not affected.
Biden’s Interior Department praised Carter’s environmental legacy in a statement following the announcement of his death.
“President Jimmy Carter exemplified what it means to live a life of faith and service to others. His love and conservation of our shared public lands leaves a tremendous legacy, and I am grateful that the Department continues to honor his work at the Jimmy Carter .Carter National Historical Park for generations to come,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement: “My deepest condolences go out to his family and the world community as we mourn this selfless public servant.”
