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chapter 4 Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter campaigned for the White House as an “outsider” who intended to use the power of the presidency to bring change to Washington politics. He began his administration in 1977 by developing a list of nineteen water projects that he felt were “environmentally unsound and fiscally unjustified,” and which he believed should be deleted from the federal budget .1 His failure to understand the need to consult congressional leaders and key Democratic committee chairs as well as consider the political impact of these cuts led to problems between Carter and legislators representing primarily western states. One key Democratic leader in the Senate, furious with the president’s action and its direct threat to his state, railed, “My name is Russell Long, and I am chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.”2 As Charles O. Jones observed, “What President would have begun his term by cutting water projects believed by members to be so vital to their districts (and their own political careers”)?3 Stuart Eizenstat, domestic policy advisor in the Carter administration, characterized Jimmy Carter as having a “first-rate analytical and intellectual capability and rigor,” yet as president he “disdained politics in governing as tawdry,” and instead of “thinking too small, he thought too boldly at times, wanting more than the political system could produce.” Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill encouraged the new president to develop his relations with key members of Congress.4 After all, Carter had a potential advantage since his party controlled both houses of Congress. Yet Carter was compelled to speak directly to the people via television in an effort to push his agenda. Although Carter started out with a favorable relationship with the media, once problems arose, conflict persisted in media coverage of the president. As journalist Haynes Johnson explained, President Carter “never seemed at ease around reporters, and he had been unable to conceal his distrust, even disapproval , of the press while campaigning.”5 Once in office, despite employing both traditional and novel ways of communicating with the media and the American public, his relationship with the media increasingly deteriorated. Moreover, Carter had difficulties interacting with a Congress with Demo- jimmy carter 85 cratic majorities in both houses, resulting in a “negative press portrait” early in his term in office.6 Carter assumed the presidency with many ideas but no single focus for his administration. Yet environmental protection was one policy area that benefited from his deep interest and concern. As a governor and as president, Carter used the power resources of the state and national executive office to further environmental goals. A concern for the environment predated his executive experience. In his book An Outdoor Journal he reminds us that as a Georgia state legislator he was one of the founders of the Georgia Conservancy and that while campaigning for governor his “campaign speeches . . . frequently emphasized my concerns about pollution to Georgia’s air, water, forests, marshlands, and other natural areas.”7 When he entered office, Carter was at the center of centrifugal forces as the expectations of environmental groups were heightened while business and industry felt that their economic interests were threatened. Benjamin Kline explains that, on the one hand, “environmentalists found increased in- fluence in the White House. The Carter administration seemed to welcome them and their cause,” while on the other hand, “business coalitions, such as the Business Roundtable, attacked regulations established by the EPA and the Occupational Safety and Health Act, declaring that they cost too much, caused inefficiency, and hurt business morale.”8 Although Carter supported an activist role for the federal government in environmental policy making, he also saw the value of integrating the states as partners in this effort. For example, he saw conservation efforts as relevant to the states in terms of the control over auto emissions and the conservation of energy use. In a major address to the nation in 1977 about energy conservation , he acknowledged, “One of the side effects of conserving gasoline, for instance, is that State governments that have a limited amount of tax per gallon collect less money through gasoline taxes. To reduce their hardships and to ensure adequate highway maintenance, we should compensate States for this loss through the Highway Trust Fund.”9 Moreover, from the moment he assumed the presidency, water policy was a major element of Carter’s environmental agenda. In announcing his administration’s water policy in 1978, he...

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