For Jimmy Carter, protecting the environment was an “inspiring” challenge.

One of the most enduring aspects of Jimmy Carter’s presidency is his green legacy: he embraced environmental and renewable energy issues with an enthusiasm that US political leaders have not matched for decades.

Environmentalists and conservationists agree on the importance of Carter’s achievements in this area: he protected over a million acres of land and waterways, worked to create national energy standards, and in response to the energy crisis of the 1970s created the Department of Energy to develop alternative sources such as solar and wind power, which will help move the US toward energy independence.

But Carter’s commitment to the environment began long before he entered the White House. On his father’s farm in southwest Georgia, he spent much of his childhood barefoot outdoors, hunting and fishing with friends.

“One of my most vivid childhood memories was the earth. There was closeness, almost sinking into sand, loam and red clay that seemed natural and permanent. I remember how nice it was to go behind the plow. My bare feet were caressed by the soft and cool freshly dug earth,” Carter once said. said. “I realized early on that if we take care of the earth, it will take care of us.”

Growing up, he owned his family’s peanut farm and by 1967 was a founding member of the Georgia Preserve. As governor, his reputation as a conservationist grew. He established the Georgia Heritage Foundation, which was dedicated to protecting the state’s lands and preventing engineers from building dams along some of Georgia’s rivers.

Carter’s top White House domestic policy adviser, Stuart E. Eizenstat, told CBS News that by the time he got to Washington, Carter’s goal was to raise public awareness about conservation and climate change.

“He was always looking to the future with regard to the environment,” Eizenshtat said.

Carter shared with White House staff his desire to leave behind an environmental legacy that rivals that of Theodore Roosevelt, who created the National Park Service.

Two weeks after the inauguration, Carter is known to instructed Americans to turn off their thermostats to conserve energy, adding that one of his “most urgent” goals was to develop a national energy policy to become less dependent on foreign suppliers.

Carter oversaw the installation of solar panels at the White House. Eisenstat said it was more than a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity for Carter; he wanted to publicly show his support for renewable energy and make their existence mainstream.

Early in his presidency, Carter also pushed for legislation that would “emphasize the importance of protecting the environment for all of our lives,” he wrote in his op-ed. address to Congress. Eisenstat said that Carter wanted environmental issues to be “a key part of his administration”.

Carter biographer Kai Bird told CBS News that Carter was willing to push his environmental policies at the expense of his political popularity, often at odds with his own party. Byrd added that even more attention would be paid to conservation and renewable energy if Carter were elected to a second term. Failure to do so, according to Byrd, has been one of Carter’s regrets since his time in Washington.

But it was in the 11-week window between losing re-election and leaving office that Carter signed some of his most important environmental laws, including one that protected more than 100 million acres of Alaska land and more than double the size of the National Park System and the legislation that created the so-called “Superfund” that manages the cleanup of hazardous and toxic waste.

“We used to joke that the worst way to convince him to do something that we recommended was to say that it would help him politically,” Eizenshtat said. “[Conservation] was much more than just politics. It was the centerpiece of his whole outlook on life.”

Conservation as a philosophy was the result of Carter’s Christian faith.

“He was a man who, as an act of faith, scientific understanding and a commitment to intergenerational justice, dedicated himself effectively and passionately to being a caring keeper of nature and public lands,” said Deborah Williams, former Special Assistant to the Secretary of State. Internal Affairs under President Clinton.

“I have never been happier, uplifted, at peace, rested, inspired, and aware of the greatness of the universe and the greatness of God, than when I find myself in a natural setting that has not changed much from how He created it,” Carter. wrote in Open Journal.

Williams, who has worked with Carter for decades and remains close to the former president, told CBS News he never lost his sense of responsibility for the environment and was even briefed on Alaska’s conservation issues days before he entered hospice care in February.

“He has such deep faith. This motivated him to protect God’s creation and the resources God provided. And we must be responsible stewards of what is bequeathed to us,” she said. “It’s just its core.”

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