The 5 Most Environmentally Friendly Presidents in U.S. History
Thu, Feb 28, 2008
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While Iraq is by far the biggest issue in the 2008 U.S. presidential elections, the candidate’s environmental stances are more important this year than in any election preceding it.
Theodore Roosevelt
We sincerely hope that our next president, whoever he or she may be, is committed to helping improve the planet’s environment. While they might not have had any great examples to follow the past few years, there are several U.S. presidents that did a lot for the environment. Here’s a list of 5 eco-friendly presidents in chronological order.
5. Abraham Lincoln
I think it’s safe to say that Lincoln is not really remembered for his environmental legacy. Freeing the slaves and presiding over the Union during the Civil War were far more famous and important, and they deservedly overshadow his accomplishments in other areas.
Just because he’s not remembered as an environmentalist doesn’t mean he didn’t do anything for the environment though. In 1862 Lincoln established the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). At the time more than 90% of Americans were farmers, so this was an important and powerful department. The USDA still has a major impact on our environment, as does U.S. agriculture.
That wasn’t Lincoln’s only contribution to the environment and the sciences. He authorized the establishment of the National Academy of Sciences in 1863. He also signed one of the first conservation laws, which helped lay the foundations of the national park service. In 1864 Lincoln signed a bill which established protection for the Yosemite Valley in California. The aim of the bill was the protection of the valley’s trees, an idea that had gained support when a massive and famous redwood called the Mother of the Forest was felled in 1851, sparking outrage across the country.
4. Teddy Roosevelt
Teddy Roosevelt is more famous for his environmental actions than any other president in history. A committed outdoorsman, he made conservation of America’s natural resources a cornerstone of his policy. He repeatedly lobbied Congress to pass measures for the conservation of forests, water, soil and wildlife.
Roosevelt is mistakenly credited for the creation of the National Park Service, which was actually created by Woodrow Wilson in 1916. What Roosevelt created was the National Wildlife Refuge System. He designated Pelican Island, Florida the first National Wildlife Refuge in 1903. He proceeded to place large areas of land under federal protection during his presidency, about 230 million acres in total. This was made easier by the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gave a president the ability to designate areas as national monuments without Congressional approval. This gave the lands some federal protection, and Roosevelt took full advantage of the act.
3. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The next Roosevelt to arrive in office also had a great environmental impact, although he couldn’t compare to his elder relative. FDR’s most important contribution to American environmentalism was the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC was intended to help decrease unemployment during the Great Depression as part of FDR’s “New Deal”. More than 2.5 million people served in the CCC from 1933 to 1942. They planted millions of trees, opened summer camps, and generally improved America’s infrastructure and environment.
FDR pushed a lot of legislation through Congress during his time in office, so it’s no surprise there were several other environmental bills he signed into law. Both the Soil Conservation Service and the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act were passed during FDR’s time as president.
2. Richard Nixon
I’m well aware that Richard Nixon was a huge tool. He was a manipulative, sneaky criminal who fought dirty and mercilessly attacked his enemies. By most accounts, he was not a nice person. That being said, Nixon’s signature made some of the most important environmental legislation in U.S. history into law.
Look at some of the environmental legislation Nixon signed into law. In 1970 he signed the Clean Air Act and created the Environmental Protection Agency. While the EPA has spent the last few years protecting the environment by telling California it should let cars pollute more, it once did a decent job of trying to make our environment better.
1972 was a banner year for environmental legislation. Here’s a list of some of the bills passed that year: the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Ocean Dumping Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Federal Insecticide, Fungide, Rodenticide Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act. The rest of Nixon’s term was no less eventful, and it saw the Endangered Species Act passed in 1973 and the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974.
You may not like Nixon, I sure don’t, but he presided over a time that saw more powerful environmental protection laws enacted than any before it. He probably didn’t care about all of them and we all know about his downfall, but we shouldn’t ignore this important period in U.S. environmental history because Nixon was a jerk.
1. Jimmy Carter
Like Roosevelt before him, Carter didn’t just sign environmental laws. Carter lobbied for their creation and passage as well. From the first year of his presidency he was active in environmental issues. 1977 saw the creation of the Department of Energy, as well as the passage of the Soil and Water Conservation Act, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, and amendments on the Clean Air Act which helped set clean air standards. The next year, Congress passed that National Energy Act, the Antarctic Conservation Act, and the Endangered American Wilderness Act.
It was 1980, however, that was Carter’s biggest personal triumph in lobbying Congress. Earlier that year the Superfund legislation was passed, giving the EPA the funds and responsibility to clean up abandoned toxic waste dumps. Carter’s biggest personal victory that year, however, was the passage of the Alaskan National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Carter and others, including a number of celebrities, had lobbied hard for the passage of the bill. The act conserved more than 100 million acres 26 rivers in Alaska.
So there’s our list of the top 5 environmentally friendly presidents. I’m sure not everyone will agree with all of them, so leave me your own lists in the comments section and I’ll take a look.
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3 Trackbacks For This Post
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The Fabric of History « ErinSlick Says:
March 1st, 2008 at 5:14 am[...] though, of how we tend to oversimplify history. I was reading a blog entry today about the five most environmentally-friendly presidents. Of course, the whole article was oversimplified. Theodore Roosevelt, my personal favorite and [...]
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Science Etcetera Saturnday, 20070301 « ideonexus Says:
March 1st, 2008 at 10:08 am[...] three of the five Most Environmentally Friendly Presidents in U.S. History were Republicans, it really makes you wonder how dittoheads lost all their ideological [...]
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Johnsenclan » Blog Archive » Links 3/1/08 Says:
March 1st, 2008 at 4:03 pm[...] five most environmentally friendly [...]
February 29th, 2008 at 12:21 am
Interesting, but re: Lincoln, he did NOT “free the slaves” as is widely believed. Do a quick google for “did lincoln free the slaves” to find out more.
February 29th, 2008 at 2:17 am
To Bill Vincent,
Your suggestion that Lincoln did not free the slaves is a technicality. The Whig party imploded over the slavery. And the bigger fragment of that party was the one that wanted slavery ended. That group became a party and took the name Republican and Lincoln was their first candidate for President.
Anti slavery was the cornerstone of that party, so much so that South Carolina – and other states – threatened to secede from the Union if Lincoln won that election. Well, Lincoln won that election. War was pretty much a forgone conclusion by the time Lincoln was inaugurated.
Eventually Lincoln invoked the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves only in the south that the US no longer had control over. This is, I suspect what you meant by “google it”.
Thus, you are correct in that Lincoln did not pass a law that freed the slaves. But he was the first President of a party that held the freeing of the slaves as the cornerstone of it’s existence. The only thing that interfered with the culmination of that cornerstone of that Republican party (wich is quite anathema to the 2008 Republican party by the way.) was Lincoln’s assassination.
Once you know history, making reference to Lincoln freeing the slaves is way more accurate than your suggestion that he did not. Lincoln’s very election was an extremely direct initiation of the freeing of the slaves. Your suggestion otherwise is a manipulation of history.
February 29th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
February 29th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Mark, Very well said. Lincoln was an amazing man and I believe from what I have learned he was a very successful and compassionate man that we should all respect to no end.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Nixon couldn’t even get on the Republican ticket now. He would be labeled a liberal Democrat….
February 29th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Lincoln ordered a transcontinental rail line which cleared millions of acres of land. He sent Sherman and his war criminals to kill indians and ordered the mass extinction of buffalo.
Just because he put government regulation over the farms does not mean that he was an environmentalist. He created the department to lay the groundwork of controlling the south, which was predominately agrarian.
FDR destroyed vast ecosystems with the damns that he built.
In fact, the environment is best protected when the government stays out of it all together.
This post reeks of a blatant lack of understanding history.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Bill Vincent you are retarded.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Actually Charles Fremont was the first Republican presidential candidate.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Theodore derserves the #1 position here. We could surely use his leadership today. Check out his views on Universal Healthcare……over 100 years ago. Or perhaps his take on immigration or “hyphenated Americanism”. He was truely ahead of his time here……and was one hell of a conservationist. Oh yeah………Carter was abysmal.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
What about Nixon? Wasn’t he responsible for the EPA?
February 29th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
@zarnold:
heh…the page didn’t load right the first time :)
February 29th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Wow. I wonder what it would be like today to have a President who cared about the environment.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Actually Mark, he didn’t really.
Your comment that he was the head of a party that wanted slavery abolished is true, but while slavery was the issue the war ended up turning around on, it was not the cause. Had it not been slavery it would have been something else. It was a states rights vs. federal power issue.
Secondly, Lincoln only freed the Southern states’ slaves. There were a number of slaves in the Union who were not freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, so even those over whom Lincoln had power were not freed either.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
You forgot Al Gore. Technically…he WAS a President. :D
February 29th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Hmm…well, while I agree that the environment is an important issue, there isn’t much that a President can do about our current situation…it’s the PEOPLE’S thirst for oil and electricity that are driving many of our problems…not to mention the ever-increasing demand for hybrids.
Yes, hybrids. They may consume less gas, but when it comes time to dispose of the batteries in them, things won’t be so peachy-keen. I’m suprised environmentalists are applauding the efforts by the car manufacturers to produce more hybrids…the disposed batteries contain stuff that is FAR worse for the environment.
http://www.livingwithanerd.com
February 29th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
It is not a manipulation of any sort; in fact, what I’ve just read here is far more a manipulation than someone claiming Lincoln didn’t free the slaves, which he didn’t, and never had any intention to do in the first place.
He supported a Constitutional amendment which would forever legitimize slavery in the South – or at least as long as the South wanted to keep their slaves. In his inaugural address, Lincoln mentioned it by saying, “I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution…has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the states, including that of persons held to service.” Then, while “holding such a provision to be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable.”
So what was he? A typical politician in that he was pandering to southerners to be elected? Or could there be a tad more to it? Look up his record as an attorney for a bit more information.
Lysander Spooner, one of the most staunch advocates of abolition in the mid-1800s, wrote to Sen. Charles Sumner and said, “Upon yourself, and others like you, professed friends of freedom, who, instead of promulgating what you believed to be the truth, have, for selfish purposes, denied it, and thus conceded to the slaveholders the benefit of an argument to which they had no claim, – upon your heads, more even, if possible, than upon the slaveholders themselves, (who have acted only in accordance with their associations, interests, and avowed principles as slaveholders.) rests the blood of this horrible, unnecessary, and therefore guilty, war.”
War was most certainly NOT a foregone conclusion until it was determined a man such as Lincoln would be elected. Secession wasn’t illegal, and was perfectly permitted according to the Constitution (10th Amendment). “Bringing the Union together” by force was a terrible decision, its end certainly not justified by the means (the slaughter of thousands upon thousands of Americans).
February 29th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Why do you need to add bias into this article? Nixon a jerk? Of course he was, but why do you have to call it out?
Adding bias shows your ignorance through reliance upon criticism to get your point across.
Where is the critique and name calling of the other presidents?
February 29th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Here is a quote from your great Abe Lincoln:
“Make Negroes politically and socially our equals? My own feelings will not admit of this. I will say that I am not nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, that I am not nor have ever been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people. And I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And in as much as they cannot so live, while they do remain together, there must be the position of superior and inferior. And I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”
You may have convinced yourselves that he freed the slaves, but please don’t call him an environmentalist!
February 29th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
He didn’t literally free the slaves, but clearly he did believe that they should be free. I’m not entirely sure he believed they were equal to him, but he did apparently believe that they should have their own freedom/autonomy.
February 29th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Good story… Wonder who’s next on the list?
February 29th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
I second that motion!
February 29th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Ah, so Dr. Woo, you believe that the Union should have just been left to rot? Allowing the south to split itself from the Union and having two countries where once there was one?
You know, It would be alright if the South’s plan was simply to govern themselves their way, but of course, their plans for the future weren’t exactly altruistic. Google the South’s plan for South America and the Caribbean, or their plans for Chinese Immigrants in the California Territory. Yea, thousands upon thousands of people died, but I can honestly say, in this case, war to preserve th union was the right choice.
And as whether or not Lincoln wanted to free slaves and such, the Emancipation Proclamation laid the groundwork for their eventual freedom, which is always better than slavery. Of course, it’s not exactly like they were anything close to equal to white people under law for another century, but that is a far different argument for a different time.
March 1st, 2008 at 12:40 am
I think that the beginning of this entry should have read, “While Iraq is by far the biggest issue in the 2008 U.S. presidential elections, the candidate’s environmental stances are BEING IGNORED this year more than in any election preceding it.”
March 1st, 2008 at 3:34 am
Lincoln was dead when Sherman went west.
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Nixon also passed the Clean Water Act in 1972 which is far more important than those other acts passed in 1972.
March 4th, 2008 at 1:43 am
did anyone else notice that there’s two presidents on here with the same name, and there’s a picture of Eisenhower labeled president roosevelt, as well? so we have three different roosevelt’s; one which is Franklin Roosevelt, the other Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, and the other which is Dwight Eisenhower? Hmmm. Interesting…
March 4th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I want to know who the best candidate for presidency do we have now to save the environment, because I what I see is constant building with little regard to save the environment.
March 12th, 2008 at 7:24 am
This is true, the inacipation proclimation givin by Lincoln only freed the slaves in the north (he was not president and had no control of or over the south). He only freed the northern slaves (there were none).
May 7th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Even with all of this being said, Big Gay Al STILL says, “Dogs can’t look up.”
This proves everything.
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I can not believe that you did not list President George Bush. in 2009 he set aside 195,000 square miles of Pacific Ocean as a national maritime preserve. This is by fat the largest grant of any President ever.
June 4th, 2009 at 3:42 am
OK President Bush. Got one he implemented new Daylight Savings Time schedule to save on energy use.