I want to take this opportunity to wish a Happy 95th Birthday to Former President Jimmy Carter. He was America’s 39th president, a trained nuclear engineer, and one of America’s greatest presidents.
On December 12, 1952, Canda’s Chalk River NRX nuclear reactor suffered a partial meltdown. Canda asked the U.S. for help, and former President Carter, a U.S. Navy officer, and trained nuclear engineer came to the rescue. He was physically lowered into the damaged nuclear reactor to help clean, shut down, and replace the reactor. The reactor shutting down was crucial in preventing a potential nuclear disaster.
President Carter was also an innovator long before most people knew what the word innovation meant. As an indication of the President’s faith in “the power of the sun,” in 1979, he commissioned the installation of 32 solar water heating panels on the roof of the White House.
The purpose of the 32 solar water heating panels was to “heat water for the White House’s cafeteria and laundry room.” However, these solar panels, used to heat water in the Whitehouse for seven years, were removed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.
The connection of solar panels echoed the energy goal of “the Carter administration to achieve 20% renewable energy by 2000.” Think about it, if the U.S. had followed the President’s lead and invested and expanded Solar Energy in 1979the U.S. would be free from the pollution of crude oil and petroleum fossil fuels.
The planet would be healther, our waterways would be cleaner, and our air quality would be life-saving. Moreover, in 2017 Carter installed nearly 4,000 solar panels on his farm in Plains, Georgia. That arrangement of solar panels distributes enough electricity for half of his hometown’s demands.
Climate change is threatening the entire World; however, communities of color and lower incomes are experiencing the effects disproportionately. The American people must use the 2022 Mid-Term elections to elect Candidates who will vote for
environmental and climate justice. For the sake of your children, during the next five weeks, Candidates must explain their position on the climate crisis and what they will do to decrease global warming and its effects on human health.
May the Most High bless former President Carter for giving of himself to help so many people in the U.S and worldwide.