Jimmy Carter’s Presidency Was Defined by Energy
The 98-year-old former president was an early champion of solar power who also saw coal as key to the US reducing its dependence on foreign oil.
Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn arrive for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a solar project in Plains, Georgia, in 2017.
Photographer: David Goldman/AP Photo
Last week Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, began home hospice care at the age of 98. The news prompted tributes to a man known for his dedication to promoting peace and fighting disease, who has led a famously modest post-presidential life in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
Carter is also the president who put solar panels on the White House and suggested that Americans wear a sweater and keep the thermostat down to save energy. But that only skims his legacy on energy and the environment, one of the most substantial of any US president.