Two months after taking office, President Barack Obama signed a historic wilderness bill that banned logging, mining and oil drilling across 2 million acres of scenic federal lands, including the Sierra Nevada, wildflower meadows on Oregon’s Mount Hood and vast vistas of California desert.

But today, with less than two weeks until Election Day, the environment as a campaign issue is as quiet as some of those remote landscapes.

“When you are looking at a high unemployment rate, most voters are not concerned about saving the planet,” said Barbara O’Connor, director emeritus of the Institute for the Study of Politics and the Media at Sacramento State. “They are much more interested in the economy and jobs — and whether they’ll have a pension or health care.”

Yet despite its relatively low profile this year, there is a Grand Canyon of difference between Obama and his challenger, Mitt Romney, on environmental issues, from public lands to climate change.

Since taking office, Obama has mostly sided with environmental groups, approving new regulations to limit pollution. Romney has criticized those actions as burdensome on industry and costly to consumers and taxpayers. On Romney’s campaign website, there are policy positions for 26 major issues. “Environment” is not on the list.

During the past four years, Obama has:

Approved several major new air pollution laws, including strict limits on mercury pollution and smog that drifts between states.

Doubled the gas mileage rules for cars, copying California’s greenhouse gas standards to require the U.S. auto fleet to average 54.5 mpg within 12 years.

Set the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on course to require mandatory limits on greenhouse gases from new power plants by next year.