President Jimmy Cater’s death at age 100 in December 2024 prompted some reflections and reminiscences by several EMMI colleagues. Dr. Andras Simonyi, former Hungarian Ambassador to the United States, recalled a long conversation with President Carter, followed by Carter’s decision to return the Crown of St. Stephen to the Hungarian people in 1978, which had been held by the U.S. since the end of World War II in 1945. Andras also remembered that Carter’s National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski had opposed that return. Despite that disagreement, Andras later because a close friend of Brzezinski, who was a polish-American diplomat with a background somewhat similar to that of Andras. Andras said that Carter’s decision to return the Crown to the people of Hungary, rather than its Communist government, “was his first signal to the Russians you don’t own Central Europe.”
EEMI Director for Sustainable Energy Scott Sklar related his experience in working with Carter's team on the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 while Scott worked for Senator Jacob Javits of New York. That federal law encouraged the use of renewable energy and conservation and set the basis for Scott’s lifelong career as one of America’s leading figures in renewable energy.
Professor Donna Attanasio, EEMI Director of Energy Law and Policy, related her experience with the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, noting that “it was the wedge that permitted the creation of regional transmission systems and markets and the independent generation industry. The innovation and competition that followed put us on a path to competitive energy pricing, making energy more affordable…and promoted time of use pricing and energy conservation and efficiency (and) introduced the concept of shaping customer usage rather than just building to meet demand.”
EEMI Director Jonathan Deason related how Carter was indirectly responsible for his GW career. Carter’s famous 1978 Water Policy Initiatives that were focused on water conservation, environmental quality, and cost-sharing for federal water projects involved 13 federal interagency task forces to implement his policy. Deason was appointed to chair one of those task forces while working at the U.S. Department of the Interior. As a reward for successfully completing that assignment, Carter’s Secretary of the Interior Cecil Andrus sent Deason to the University of Virgina on a full federal fellowship to get his Ph.D. degree, which ultimately led to his position at GW.
On Carter’s December 29, 2024 death, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas L. Friedman wrote that Carter’s “vision and persistence on solar energy — like his vision and persistence on Middle East peace — deserve to be brightly illuminated today, preferably with an LED bulb powered by solar energy.”