Former United States President Jimmy Carter is remembered as an early and influential champion of energy efficiency. Taking office at a time when conservation was peripheral to the public consciousness, he established the federal Department of Energy (DOE) as a stand-alone entity and spearheaded introduction of the National Energy Conservation Policy Act, an initiative with bipartisan support that led to product performance standards and the involvement of utilities in energy management programs.
“In the 1970s, energy efficiency, itself, was an emerging concept, and researchers were just starting to focus intensively on policy and program mechanisms for improving efficiency in existing homes and buildings,” recalls Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). “His administration created policies and research initiatives that were the foundation for decades of progress in using energy more efficiently.”
An ACEEE tribute, following Carter’s death on Dec. 29, underscores the DOE’s key role in more than five decades of research and development, beginning with its pioneering efforts to improve the performance of windows. As well, Carter’s energy conservation legislation was instrumental in the rollout and eventual widescale uptake of energy audits in the commercial/institutional and residential sectors. He was also a role model for conservationist behaviour, urging his countrymen to turn down the thermostat, add a sweater and adopt more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Other aspects of Carter’s efforts to reduce American reliance on oil and gas, which he characterized as “the moral equivalent of war”, come with some incongruities from the perspective of the 2020s. In addition to deregulating oil and gas prices and attempting (unsuccessfully) to prohibit new gas-fired power plants, he introduced incentives for both renewable energy and coal.
“He was not responding to a recognized environmental issue, as we see it and need to address today, but, even then, he was calling for increased efficiency to go along with renewables and other supply,” observes longtime energy consultant, Peter Love, who served as Ontario’s chief conservation officer from 2005 to 2009. “His lasting legacy includes the creation of the U.S. Department of Energy and his call on Americans to conserve energy.”
Brendan Haley, senior policy director with Efficiency Canada, a research and public advocacy organization that promotes the dual economic and environmental benefits of energy and water efficiency, credits Carter for expanding the U.S. Weatherization Assistance Program, which had been instituted by his immediate predecessor, President Gerald Ford. Nearly 50 years later, the program continues to provide support and services to help low-income households make improvements that lead to savings on their electricity and heating costs.
Canada has thus far lacked an equivalent program and political uncertainty now colours the pending rollout of the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program, which was first promised in the 2024 federal budget. “Hopefully, helping low-income homeowners and tenants save money through energy efficiency is supported across political parties, like it has been in the U.S. for decades,” Haley says.
