The environment stuff is good and all, but it's pretty lame when you consider what was going down at the time. Short of like planting rose bushes while your house is falling apart.

Why does Carter deserve credit for creating those jobs?

As for establishing diplomatic ties with China, I'm not sure why this counts as a major accomplishment. Just because it was novel? I also don't see why it counts as his, since it was China that sought our hand because it was desperate for foreign capital to rebuild its freshly-ruined economy. I know less about the Panamanian treaty situation. Was there a serious risk of losing their neutrality through less-than-perfect negotiations?