Environmental Comparison Of President Jimmy Carter And President Bill Clinton

From an environmental standpoint, both President Jimmy Carter and President Bill Clinton stand out, especially when considering the sheer size of the areas they both enacted laws to protect. Carter’s Alaskan Nation Interest Lands Conservation Act has preserved over 100 million acres and 26 rivers in the state (Howard, 2013) while Clinton used the Antiquities Act of 1906 to protect over 3 million acres by declaring them “national monuments” (Wapner, 2001). The only president who has a greater reputation for protecting such vast amounts of wildland is President Theodore Roosevelt, who created national parks and protected areas during his term in office. Of course, both have their differences as well. Carter famously called for Americans to

As many are aware, Carter also called for Americans to be more contentious of their energy consumption (Chris, 2008), and similarly followed his own urging by installing solar panels on the White House and keeping the House’s thermostat on 68 degrees, opting to wear sweaters instead of turning the heat up (Bryce, 2012).

Likewise, in 1979, he signed the “corporate average fuel economy” or CAFÉ standards which called for fuel efficient cars, though these standards were later relaxed. Other acts he passed include the Soil and Water Conservation Act, the Surface Mining and Control and Reclamation Act, the Antarctic Conservation Act, the National Energy Act, and the Endangered American Wilderness Act. He also implemented stricter amendments to the Clean Air Act that helped set clean air standards (Bryce, 2012).

Much like Theodore Roosevelt previously, Carter lobbied for the creation and passage of environmental laws and was active in environmental concerns since he gained office (Howard, 2013). Out of the several environmental bills passed during Carter’s administration, there are two that serve as his greatest victories: the Superfund legislation and the Alaskan National Interests Land Conservation Act (Howard,

He appointed actual environmentalists to the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Interior, along with establishing appointments in the Department of Justice to focus on environmental justice (Wapner, 2001). Meanwhile, during his administration the State Department began focusing on environmental security threats. He also proposed the largest budget for wildlife protection and preservation of national parks (Wapner, 2001).

However, his biggest legacy is protecting large swaths of land, which total more than any other administration, including Theodore Roosevelt’s which established federal land protection. Using the Antiquities Act of 1906, Clinton declared 3 million acres “national monuments” including Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante, Arizona’s Grand Canyon-Parashant, and California’s pinnacles (Wapner, 2001).

Other measures to protect land include using executive power to put one-third of national forest land off limits to road building, logging, and oil and gas exploration which effectively protected all remaining national forest land that hadn’t already been developed or given permanent protection, including the Tongass National Forest in Alaska (Wapner, 2001). Clinton also enacted efforts to restore the Everglades, restricted flights over the Grand Canyon, banned snowmobiling in national parks, and fought against congressional efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and