Thank you, President Carter

Those of us in our Third Act remember the Carter presidency well—for some of us he was the first president we ever voted for, and for all of us he was a symbol of our country at its best. I wrote about his visionary energy policy for the New Yorker; others have paid tribute to his peace-making skills, as exemplified by the Camp David Accords.

“[President Carter] declared May 3, 1978, to be Sun Day, and delivered a speech (in a driving rain—he was characteristically unlucky) from a federal solar-research facility in Golden, Colorado. ‘The question is no longer whether solar energy works,’ he said. ‘We know it works. The only question is how to cut costs so that solar power can be used more widely and so that it will set a cap on rising oil prices.’ He continued, ‘Nobody can embargo sunlight. No cartel controls the sun. Its energy will not run out. It will not pollute the air. It will not poison our waters. It’s free from stench and smog. The sun’s power needs only to be collected, stored, and used.’

Carter was correct. Had we embarked on an enormous project of solar research then and there, we could have cut the costs of renewable energy far faster than we did.”

But we have another reason for our deep respect. He understood—as no president before or since—that he had deep contributions to make to our public life even after he’d retired from the White House. In the 40 years since he left office he did everything he could to make his town, his state, his nation, and his world a better place. And he succeeded beyond anyone’s imagining. We say to him a collective thank you for a job well done. He exemplified the America that we knew and loved.

Read "Jimmy Carter, Green-Energy Visionary" by Bill McKibben

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Bill McKibben

Bill McKibben is a founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 to work on climate, democracy, and racial justice. He founded the first global grassroots climate campaign, 350.org, and serves as the Schumann Distinguished Professor in Residence at Middlebury College in Vermont. In 2014 he was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the ‘alternative Nobel,’ in the Swedish Parliament. He’s also won the Gandhi Peace Award, and honorary degrees from 19 colleges and universities.

He has written over a dozen books about the environment, including his first, The End of Nature, published in 1989. His most recently released book is The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at his Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened.