Jimmy Carter may have only had one term in the Presidency, but regarding environmental issues, Presidential scholars and Environmental experts agree he had the most productive one term we have seen, although it may be that Joe Biden’s one term might be seen in evaluation in the future as having surpassed Carter.
Carter put solar panels on the White House, which his successor, Ronald Reagan, had removed.
Carter put tens of millions of acres in Alaska off limits to developers, specifically 56 million acres under the 1906 Antiquities Act passed under Theodore Roosevelt.
Before he left office, he added another 100 million acres in Alaska of Wildlife Refuge under protection, an amazing accomplishment.
Carter had a great Interior Secretary, Cecil Andrus, former Governor of Idaho, who worked against the domination of mining, oil, timber, and grazing interests, and limited control of dams that could harm the health of rivers.
Also, Carter presided over the creation of the Department of Energy as a Cabinet post.
One can only imagine how much more Carter might have done had he won reelection in 1980 over Ronald Reagan.
As it is, Carter is rated as one of the top eight environmental Presidents, alongside Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden.