Climate Action
American Presidents and the Environment
February 18, 2019
Below, our online reading list on American Presidents and their environmental impact.
“America’s Greenest Presidents” (Emma Bryce, New York Times, 2012)
What do Theodore Roosevelt, Richard M. Nixon and Jimmy Carter have in common? They are viewed as environmentally progressive presidents… More…“A Graphical Look At Presidents’ Environmental Records” (Marlene Cimons, Think Progress, 2016)
Nixon’s predecessor, Lyndon B. Johnson, knew of the dangers of climate change and spoke of them in a special message to Congress shortly after his 1965 inauguration. “Air pollution is no longer confined to isolated places,” he said. “This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through radioactive materials and a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels….” More…“8 Presidents Who Shaped Public Lands” (Department of the Interior, 2016)
Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, Thomas Jefferson… The legacies of eight presidents who made a big difference in American conservation….More…“The Presidents Who Gave Us Our Best Parks” (Brian Clark Howard, National Geographic, 2016)
The concept of protecting natural treasures for future generations can be traced back to the founding fathers. Thomas Jefferson wrote about the benefits of open space and the danger of cutting down all the trees. He also sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on a voyage of discovery to catalog the nature in the great West.… More…“Who Was America’s Greenest, Most Environmental President Ever?” (Paul Ratner, Big Think, 2016)
In 1970 alone, he signed the National Environmental Policy Act into law, which required environmental impact statements for major new building projects, created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and signed the landmark Clean Air Act, perhaps the most significant air pollution control bill in American history…. More…
