The national parks preceded the National Park Service, but the first great natural park was a state park. Californiaâs Yosemite State Park was established in 1864, by a federal cession approved by President Abraham Lincoln, and on October 21, 1880, President Rutherford B. Hayes toured Californiaâs Yosemite in an open carriage.
In fact, humans have been capturing the energy of moving water for thousands of years. Today, harnessing the power of moving water to generate electricity, known as hydroelectric power, is the largest source of emissions-free, renewable electricity in the United States and worldwide.
Heat or light from the sun, wind (turns turbines which produce electricity), and water (the power of the flow turns turbines which produce electricity). 1  hydropower (use of water from rivers, dams, tides and ocean waves). 2  wind energy (using wind turbines).