http://www.energybulletin.net/node/9657
From the article:
Carter faced a crisis from a combination of economic problems, failed policies of his predecessors and, finally, an Iranian revolution that cut access to some Middle Eastern oil.
Carter met the problems by starting sweeping oil-reduction reforms, including creation of the Cabinet-level Department of Energy.
He began spending millions of dollars researching alternative sources for electrical power, including solar power. He got utilities to cut their use of oil for electricity and ramp up their use of natural gas or coal.
“Up until Carter, we were getting about 20 percent of our electricity from oil generation,” said Jay Hakes, director of the Energy Information Administration under Carter and an authority on modern presidents and oil. “And post-Carter, it went down to about 3 percent.”
Carter insisted that U.S. automakers build more fuel-efficient cars, with a goal of 27.5 miles per gallon over the following decade – a requirement passed under Gerald Ford but put into force by Carter.
He offered incentives for getting oil from shale, creating a boom initially in the Rockies – and a bust when it failed to be cost-effective. He offered deductions for using solar water heaters in homes and commercial buildings.
“People in the upper-income bracket were always looking for tax cuts. They were going to build a house anyhow, so they were saying, ‘Well let’s look at this solar stuff and see what we can do,’ ” said Marc Giaccardo, a professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio who at the time was an Albuquerque architect.
Carter even had solar collectors installed on the White House grounds to heat the executive residence’s water.
Then Carter lost re-election to Ronald Reagan in 1980. The so lar panels at the White House eventually came down – and Reagan and his aides gutted the solar research program.
“In June or July of 1981, on the bleakest day of my professional life, they descended on the Solar Energy Research Institute, fired about half of our staff and all of our contractors, including two people who went on to win Nobel prizes in other fields, and reduced our $ 130 million budget by $ 100 million,” recalls Denis Hayes, the founder of Earth Day, who had been hired by Carter to spearhead the solar initiative.
Reagan and Congress stopped aggressively pushing new auto efficiency standards, acceding to Detroit’s desire to leave them at Carter-era levels. They let the solar tax benefit expire, and the nascent solar industry went belly- up.
It was time to let the markets work their magic and stop all this government tinkering, Reagan and conservatives said.
AND LOOK WHERE WE ARE NOW WITH ALL THIS ‘WORKING IT’S MAGIC’ BS?’
2 minutes ago
Following His Word:
I just fell over myself trying to block you.
Your logic sucks.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Carter is a genius.
Bush had a much higher polularity rating at this time. Then obama has at this time.
Yes. .Let’s Consider the Dept of Energy.
One of It’s designated functions was make America Energy Independent.
Yea.. that was money well spent huh.
Solar energy has been going gangbusters for over a decade now, and it still does not provide enough value to be a viable source.
He would have been better as the Energy Secretary than as President. As a President, he was pretty bad.
Carter created the CRA, which with the help of Bill Clinton, created the very mess we are in right now.
You can’t judge policy by it’s intentions, you must judge it by it’s results.
Jimmy Carter is far left and always was, that makes him fool …like the abolitionists and revolutionaries of the past he is no christian for he is a liberal…
Carter was right on a few things. People often blame the crisis during the Carter administration all ON the Carter administration yet fail to recognize the facts of the what Nixon administration did and the failed spending policies of the previous administrations.
In essence, Carter inherited a mess left by retard Republican presidents who spent all of our gold on the Vietnam War. Before Carter even took office things were shitty, high unemployment, inflation, and America was broke.
It took Reagan over 4 years to bring down unemployment and at the same time he broke record, after record of spending and deficits.
Jimmy Carter is a nuclear physicist and knew what he was talking about. Every Republican President so far has ignored Global Warming, ignored the glut of oil and the fact that it is growing scarce and expensive. The problem is, Carter was and is an honest, compassionate Christian man and, if you study the problem, he was just too honest and too compassionate to be President. His programs were abandoned and ignored. People would rather watch someone like Bush loot the Treasury and lead us into needless war while digging into public lands and ignoring environmental needs, it seems, and Obama, intelligent, educated, visionary…also honest and a compassionate Christian…is being assailed from every direction. It just doesn’t make sense.
Only people who did not understand the magnitude of his presidency, can say he was a fool. Carter was the most honest President US ever had and yet he was able to accomplish progress for the country. He was the only US president who made major strides in Palestinian-Israeli relationship, Camp David agreement. It was immediately destroyed by Reagan. Carter was working towards piece and prosperity for all, while facing incredible domestic opposition and screwed up economy.
No, he was not. He was a fool. And still is.