James Earl Carter, Jr., born October 1, 1924, was the 39th president of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981. He died on December 29, 2024 at the age of 100 and is remembered for his diplomacy, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. But perhaps the most lasting part of his legacy is his support for clean and renewable energy.
Carter served at a time when domestic energy policies were under scrutiny as a result of the Arab oil embargo that had triggered a worldwide energy crisis in the early 1970s. Shortly after taking office Carter described the energy crisis as the Nation’s greatest challenge. His National Energy Plan included new laws and regulations, with an emphasis on energy conservation and efficiency, along with the development of alternate energy technologies.
The President forecast that by 1985 the United States could reduce the growing energy demand, reduce oil imports and lower gasoline consumption. His administration set the lofty goal of meeting 20% of U.S. energy needs from clean energy by the year 2000.
As an advocate for clean energy, Carter had 32 solar thermal panels installed on the White House in 1979. At the dedication ceremony he stated, “In the year 2000 this solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here supplying cheap, efficient energy…. A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people.”
Carter referred to solar as the most renewable energy that we will ever see and pushed Americans to use it to replace a dwindling supply of fossil fuels. Solar energy was still costly and had yet to be embraced, yet he believed at the time that that solar energy was both feasible and cost effective. “Solar energy will not pollute our air or water. We will not run short of it. No one can ever embargo the sun or interrupt its delivery to us,” Carter said. He called on Americans to turn this vision and dream into a solar reality.
In 1978 he launched a solar strategy, which he considered “a challenge as important as exploring our first frontiers or building the greatest industrial society on Earth”. His bold clean energy commitments included earmarking $1 billion in 1980 to stimulate renewable forms of energy; he directed the Tennessee Valley Authority to become a solar showcase; and he proposed tax credits to speed the development of solar energy. Carter also started a solar bank to encourage residential and commercial use of solar energy.
One of President Carter’s most significant accomplishments was the creation of the Department of Energy (DOE). While the previous President, Gerald Ford, had set the wheels in motion to establish the DOE, it was Carter who brought it to fruition in 1977. Carter also established the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and signed the Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURPA), which created a market for power from non-utility power producers by forcing utilities to purchase power from smaller, independent, energy producers.
The solar panels he had put on the White House were evidence of putting his message into action. The panels were made in the U.S. by a Virginia-based company, InterTechnology Solar, one of two companies that received funding in 1976 as part of the U.S. government’s National Solar Demonstration program under the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA). In 1977 ERDA became part of the DOE. InterTechnology Solar was dissolved in 1991.
While some say that the solar panels were removed from the White House because Ronald Reagan didn’t like them, they were actually removed in 1986 when work was being done on the White House roof. It is not a stretch, however, to say that Reagan was not a supporter of clean energy.
When the panels were removed, they were put into storage in Virginia where they stayed until 1991 when the relics came to the attention of Peter Marbach, then the development director of Unity College—a small college in Maine whose mission was environmental education. Marbach corresponded with the former President Carter, and with the help of William Cohen, who was then U.S. Senator from Maine, Marbach received permission for the panels to be installed at Unity College. Marbach drove Unity College’s athletic bus to Virginia to retrieve the panels. Because the panels were poorly stored in the warehouse, many were broken, and Unity ended up with only 16.
Unity College launched a campaign to refurbish and install the solar thermal panels on the roof, and donations poured in. The panels were installed on the school’s cafeteria, where they were used to heat water for the next 14 years. The college has one of the thermal panels on display on campus, others went to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and to the Carter Center in Georgia.
Continuing the legacy
After leaving office Jimmy Carter remained dedicated to advancing his clean energy vision. In 2017 the Carter’s land in Plains, Georgia became the site of a 1.3 MW solar installation, providing half the town’s energy. Nearly 4,000 solar modules were installed on single-axis trackers by SolAmerica Energy, a provider of solar and storage solutions based in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia Power signed a 25-year power purchase agreement for the energy from the array. In 2020, the solar farm was planted with pollinator-friendly grasses as part of the Photovoltaic Stormwater Management Research and Testing (PV-Smart) project managed by Great Plains Institute, DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Fresh Energy, and the University of Minnesota. PV-Smart’s goal is to develop resources for estimating stormwater runoff at ground-mounted solar facilities as well as stormwater management and water quality permitting and best practices. The Plains, Georgia site is one of five installations across the country.
President Jimmy Carter’s legacy extends far beyond embracing clean energy. In 1982, he established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights, for which he earned the Nobel Peace Prize. He remained active well into his retirement years, helping to build homes for Habitat for Humanity, traveling extensively to conduct peace negotiations, monitoring elections and working toward eradicating infectious diseases. The 39th President of the United States will forever be known for having demonstrated his strong beliefs through a lifetime of hard work and dedicated action.
Also read Jimmy Carter, champion of solar energy.
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