Jimmy Carter Installed Solar Panels At The White House

In a televised speech on April 18, 1977, Carter stated that the energy crisis in the United States in the 1970s was the “moral equivalent of war.” Years before it was widespread, he promoted energy conservation among all Americans and placed solar water heating panels on the White House. To compensate for dialing down the heat at the White House, he wore sweaters.

The Department of Energy was established when Carter signed the Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 on August 4, creating the first new cabinet position in eleven years. Carter attributed the need for the measure to the “impending crisis of energy shortages” during the signing ceremony. Carter said that the House of Representatives had “adopted almost all” of the energy proposal he had made five months earlier at the beginning of a news conference on September 29, 1977, feeling as though he had not come across well in addressing energy during his prior press session. Carter called the compromise “a turning point in establishing a comprehensive energy program.” On October 13 of the next month, Carter declared that he thought the Senate would be able to approve the energy reform bill and called it “the most significant domestic issue that we will face while I am in office.”