Which Presidents Have Eco-Cred?

By Noah Schlager

February 11, 2016

Signing Constitution

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/ United States House of Representatives

Presidents Day is used as an excuse by schools throughout the nation to make students memorize obscure presidential fun facts. Remember having to learn names like Chester A. Arthur and Martin Van Buren? Or that John Quincy Adams was gifted an alligator by Marquis de Lafayette? We here at Sierra like to think of Presidents Day as a chance to reflect on the environmental legacies of our commanders in chief. Take our quiz to find out how well-versed you are in the eco-cred of the country's leaders. 

  1. Which president signed the first piece of legislation to preserve Yosemite Valley and the Sequoia groves of California?

    a.  Abraham Lincoln
    b. Ulysses S. Grant
    c. William Howard Taft 
    d. Harry S. Truman

 

  1. Which of these presidents established the EPA?

    a. Theodore Roosevelt
    b. Richard Nixon
    c. Woodrow Wilson
    d. John F. Kennedy

 

  1. Which of these presidents believed that today we’d still be settling the land that he purchased?

    a. Andrew Johnson
    b. Thomas Jefferson
    c. Andrew Jackson
    d. James K. Polk

 

  1. Who was the first president to put solar panels onto the White House?

    a. Ronald Reagan
    b. Bill Clinton
    c. Jimmy Carter
    d. Barack Obama

 

  1. Which president became known as the “conservationist president,” establishing over 230 million acres of public lands during his presidency?

    a. Franklin D. Roosevelt
    b. Theodore Roosevelt
    c. Woodrow Wilson
    d. William McKinley

 

  1. Which president created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which put about 3 million men to work on conservation and natural resource related projects?

    a. Herbert Hoover
    b. Franklin D. Roosevelt
    c. Lyndon B. Johnson
    d. Harry S. Truman

 

  1. Who was the president who signed legislation to make Yellowstone America’s first National Park?

    a. Theodore Roosevelt
    b. Ulysses S. Grant
    c. Abraham Lincoln
    d. Chester A. Arthur

 

  1. Which of these presidents signed over 300 conservation measures into law, including the Wilderness Act and Clean Air Act?

    a. Dwight D. Eisenhower
    b. Gerald Ford
    c. Richard Nixon
    d. Lyndon B. Johnson

 

  1. Which president expanded the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to create the world’s largest marine protected area?

    a. George W. Bush
    b. Barack Obama
    c. Bill Clinton
    d. Ronald Reagan



 

 

 Answers

1. a-Abraham Lincoln

2. b-Richard Nixon

3. b-Thomas Jefferson

4. c-Jimmy Carter

5. b-Theodore Roosevelt

6. b-Franklin D. Roosevelt

7. b-Ulysses S. Grant

8. d-Lyndon B. Johnson

9. b-Barack Obama (though George W. Bush established the Monument)