Jimmy Carter: State of the Union Address (1981)

In Jimmy Carter's State of the Union message he talked directly about the environmental situation, and based on what he said, the problems of the earth are about the same then as they are now, but now we have better ways of limiting the amount of damage we do-but it's still there and there's a lot that still needs to be fixed. I do think that during Jimmy Carter's era a lot got accomplished in terms of helping the environment and changing people's bad habits. He helped lead America in the right direction by Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. This act helped to preserve the natural beauty that is Alaska. The Act added 97 million acres of new parks and refuges, tripled the national wilderness system, as well as added free-flowing rivers. And as he stated, "The Alaska Lands Act reaffirms our commitment to the environment and strikes a balance between protecting areas of great beauty and allowing development of Alaska's oil, gas, mineral, and timber resources." This is what I don't like about this act. He contradicts himself when he says that he wants to preserve Alaska's beauty, but he still wants to pump oil, chop down lumber, and get minerals; all of which include invasive ways of retrieving-and that causes a lot of damage, not beauty. I think that creating acts to justify destruction of an environment and ecosystems is not the way to go. As much good as this act was, it still didn't address the other problems in the big picture such as the oil pumping and destruction of land.
Another topic concerning the environment in Carter's Address is one of water conservation. This includes the government supporting programs that are only environmentally sound. Because the government is such a large and influential force, its support of these helpful programs really helped extend the message of the importance of a clean and healthy environment. I definitely think that the government's actions reflect what the majority of the people in America want, and it also changes people's opinions so that they start being proactive in what the government is doing. This means that Americans were and are ready for a positive change in how they treat their earth. This also demonstrates that I was mistaken. In one of my previous blogs I spoke of how our society was in a downward slant in terms of environmental improvement and awareness. On the contrary though, our conditions and attitudes have apparently improved tremendously sine the Carter administration-which is good news to me and the earth.
Here are some good points/snippets that Jimmy Carter talked of during his Address:
-Our children, and our children's children, are dependent upon our maintaining our commitment to preserving and enhancing the quality of our environment
- That we shall protect the habitat and the existence of our own species on this earth.
**This shows that the government is starting to truly realize that if we damage the earth, we will eventually negativly impact ourselves in many ways.

"Jimmy Carter: State of the Union message (1981)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .