Jimmy Carter

The Forgotten Environmental Legacy of Jimmy Carter

Carter saved millions of acres of wilderness, signed the Superfund law, and began the renewables revolution.

Many people today know Jimmy Carter as an ex-President who has strongly advocated for human rights. His Presidency is probably best remembered for the Iranian Hostage crisis. His post-presidential career was at least as notable as his time in the White House. Historians find his presidency flawed by micro-management and lack of rapport with the …

CONTINUE READING

Ranking the Presidents on the Environment

Keith Poole has spent years devising measures of political ideology.  The late Phil Frickey and I used his scholarship in our work on public choice theory.  He has now produced similar information about Presidents, incorporated in the following chart: It would be useful to have a similar measure for environmental policy. The early part of …

CONTINUE READING

India Puts US Climate Policy to Shame

While US policymakers — particularly Republicans and  those in coal states — are busy complaining about developing countries not capping their carbon emissions, New Delhi is busy actually doing something about climate change. Two weeks ago, India instituted a tax on coal, instituting a form of carbon tax that talented advocates (such as the good …

CONTINUE READING

China’s Problems, Our Problems

President Obama’s trip to China (noted here yesterday by Dan Farber) refocused world attention on China’s mushrooming contributions to global warming. Many have declared that China has eclipsed the United States as the number one emitter of greenhouse gases, and it is evident that its emissions grow by the day. Perhaps the most devastating examples …

CONTINUE READING

Where Have You Gone, Jimmy Carter?

When Paul Simon famously asked his nostalgic question about the whereabouts of Joe DiMaggio, it was only 16 years after Joltin’ Joe had retired from baseball.  It’s 28 years since President Jimmy Carter left office.  Is it time to become a little nostalgic about his energy policy?  The question is prompted by Carter’s testimony, this …

CONTINUE READING

TRENDING