We have the ability to administer the new energy legislation, and congressional work on the National Energy Plan has now reached the final stage. The eighth principle is that Government policies must be predictable and certain. There, in the next few weeks, the strength and courage of our political system will be proven. This excessive importing of foreign oil is a tremendous and rapidly increasing drain on our national economy. Our biggest problem, however, is that we simply use too much and waste too much energy. To some degree, the sacrifices will be painful--but so is any meaningful sacrifice. It will lead to some higher costs and to some greater inconvenience for everyone. We can be sure that all the special interest groups in the country will attack the part of this plan that affects them directly. Address to the Nation on Energy and National Goals: "The Malaise Speech Both consumers and producers need policies they can count on so they can plan ahead. They are the ones that we must provide for now. We can't substantially increase our domestic production, so we would need to import twice as much oil as we do now. We've learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose. The 1973 gas lines are gone, and with this springtime weather, our homes are warm again. The world now uses about 60 million barrels of oil a day, and demand increases each year about 5 percent. This lack of moral and spiritual confidence, he concluded, was at the core of Americas inability to hoist itself out of its economic troubles. In April 1977, under the dark cloud of the energy crisis, President Jimmy Carter told the nation that the difficult effort needed to move beyond the shortages and high prices of that era "will be the moral equivalent of war.". We could endanger our freedom as a sovereign nation to act in foreign affairs. These wounds are still very deep. Will Obama and his ilk learn the lessons of history? Politics, Carter said, was full of corruption, inefficiency and evasiveness; he claimed these problems grew out of a deeper, fundamental threat to American democracy. He was not referring to challenges to civil liberties or the countrys political structure or military prowess, however, but to what he called a crisis of confidence that led to domestic turmoil and the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation., At a time when Europeans and the Japanese began out-producing the U.S. in energy-efficient automobiles and some other advanced technologies, Carter said that Americans had lost faith in being the worlds leader in progress. He claimed that Americans' obsession with self-indulgence and material goods had trumped spiritualism and community values. More than six months ago, in April, I spoke to you about a need for a national policy to deal with our present and future energy problems, and the next day I sent my proposals to the Congress. Carter quoted one of the Camp David meeting participants as saying that Americas neck is stretched over the fence and OPEC has a knife. In addition, inflation had reached an all-time high during Carters term. We are only Cheating ourselves if we make energy artificially cheap and use more than we can really afford. Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this Nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally. This is a special night for me. The congressional conference committees are now considering changes in how electric power rates are set in order to discourage waste, to reward those who use less energy, and to encourage a change in the use of electricity to hours of the day when demand is low. President Jimmy Carter's Address to the Nation on Energy Intense competition for oil will build up among nations and also among the different regions within our own country. Unless we act, we will spend more than $550 billion for imported oil by 1985more than $2,500 for every man, woman, and child in America. After a 2015 cancer diagnosis . Some will cause you to put up with inconveniences and to make sacrifices. Just since April, our oil imports have cost us $23 billionabout $350 worth of foreign oil for the average American family. current level; --to cut in half the portion of U.S. oil which is imported--from a potential level of 16 million barrels to 6 million barrels a day; --to establish a strategic petroleum reserve of one billion barrels, more than a 6-months supply; --to increase our coal production by about two-thirds to more than one billion tons a year; ", "We've got to use what we have. But our energy problem is worse tonight than it was in 1973 or a few weeks ago in the dead of winter. Our energy problems have the same cause as our environmental problems-wasteful use of resources. We need to shift to plentiful coal, while taking care to protect the environment, and to apply stricter safety standards to nuclear energy. As one of the world's largest producers of coal and oil and gas, why do we have this problem with energy, and why is it so difficult to solve? But we do have a choice about how we will spend the next few years. It costs about $13 to waste it. But sometime in the 1980's, it can't go up any more. Our emphasis on conservation is a clear difference between this plan and others which merely encouraged crash production efforts. These 10 days confirmed my belief in the decency and the strength and the wisdom of the American people, but it also bore out some of my longstanding concerns about our Nation's underlying problems. I can't be too concerned about other things when I have a 10-year-old daughter to raise and I don't have a job and I'm 56 years old." A look at Jimmy Carter's legacy in Georgia and around the world President Jimmy Carter delivered this speech on July 15, 1979, exactly three years after accepting the nomination of the Democratic Party to run for president. It gives us more freedom, more confidence, that much more control over our own lives. Supplies will be uncertain. Copyright 2023. We must not be selfish or timid if we hope to have a decent world for our children and our grandchildren. Surprising viewers, who were expecting a laundry list of proposals to deal with the energy crisis, Carter took a different tack. The question is, who should benefit from those rising prices for oil already discovered? We've always been proud of our leadership in the world. Center on Global Energy Policy on LinkedIn: Q&A | The Geopolitics He recounted a meeting he had hosted at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, with leaders in the fields of business, labor, education, politics and religion. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! The car, produced at Fords plant on Mack Street (now Mack Avenue) in Detroit, was delivered to read more, On July 15, 1789, only one day after the fall of the Bastille marked the beginning of a new revolutionary regime in France, the French aristocrat and hero of the American War for Independence, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, becomes the read more. We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources. In spite of increased effort, domestic production has been dropping steadily at about 6 percent a year. If we fail to act soon, we will face an economic, social, and political crisis that will threaten our free institutions. The Secretary of Defense said recently, "The present deficiency of assured energy sources is the single surest threat to our security and to that of our allies." And in each of those decades, more oil was consumed than in all of man's previous history combined. We often think of conservation only in terms of sacrifice. I've given you some of the principles of the plan. And I realize more than ever that as President I need your help. That path would be one of constant conflict between narrow interests ending in chaos and immobility. The most important thing about these proposals is that the alternative may be a national catastrophe. Jimmy Carter, "Address to the Nation on Energy," April 18, 1977. Let me try to describe the size and the effect of the problem. Too few of our utility companies will have switched to coal, which is our most abundant energy source. President Carter delivered this speech on the energy crisis in 1977. Our decision about energy will test the character of the American people and the ability of the President and the Congress to govern this Nation. The energy. I hope that each of you will take steps to conserve our precious energy and also join with your elected officials at all levels of government to meet this test of our Nation's judgment and will. Restoring that faith and that confidence to America is now the most important task we face. Point three: To give us energy security, I am asking for the most massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in our Nation's history to develop America's own alternative sources of fuel--from coal, from oil shale, from plant products for gasohol, from unconventional gas, from the Sun. I ask Congress to give me authority for mandatory conservation and for standby gasoline rationing. Good evening. You may be right, but suspicions about the oil companies cannot change the fact that we are running out of petroleum. Along with that money that we transport overseas, we will continue losing American jobs and become increasingly vulnerable to supply interruptions. The oil and natural gas that we rely on for 75 percent of our energy are simply running out. If you will join me so that we can work together with patriotism and courage, we will again prove that our great Nation can lead the world into an age of peace, independence, and freedom. During the past 3 years I've spoken to you on many occasions about national concerns, the energy crisis, reorganizing the Government, our Nation's economy, and issues of war and especially peace. The Middle East has only 5 percent of the world's energy, but the United States has 24 percent. Jimmy Carter the president, and Habitat volunteer | Education | city "Mr. President," he said, "I don't feel much like talking about energy and foreign policy. We remember when the phrase "sound as a dollar" was an expression of absolute dependability, until 10 years of inflation began to shrink our dollar and our savings. Now we have a choice. Every gallon of oil each one of us saves is a new form of production. I know, of course, being President, that government actions and legislation can be very important. Versace is shot twice in the head, and Cunanan flees the scene. It pushes up international energy prices because excessive importing of oil by the United States makes it easier for foreign producers to raise their prices. The Arab oil embargo of 1973 sent energy prices soaring, and four years later, the impacts were still rippling through the economy. Former President Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.), was the 39 th president of the United States, serving from 1977-1981. Launched in November 1964, Mariner 4 carried a television camera and six other science instruments to study Mars and interplanetary read more, Zebulon Pike, the U.S. Army officer who in 1805 led an exploring party in search of the source of the Mississippi River, sets off with a new expedition to explore the American Southwest. When we import oil we are also importing inflation plus unemployment. We've always been proud of our leadership in the world. And this year we may spend $45 billion. We have more coal than any nation on Earth. This has already started. Beginning this moment, this Nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977--never. Ten years ago, when foreign oil was cheap, we imported just 2 1/2 million barrels of oil a day, about 20 percent of what we used. It can rekindle our sense of unity, our confidence in the future, and give our Nation and all of us individually a new sense of purpose. It's crucial that you understand how serious this challenge is. Within 10 years, we would not be able to import enough oil from any country, at any acceptable price. We can't substantially increase our domestic production, so we would need to import twice as much oil as we do now. If we do not act, then by 1985 we will be using 33 percent more energy than we use today. It's important that we promote new oil and gas discoveries and increased production by giving adequate prices to the producers. We could endanger our freedom as a sovereign nation to act in foreign affairs. This means that just to stay even we need the production of a new Texas every year, an Alaskan North Slope every 9 months, or a new Saudi Arabia every 3 years. It unbalances our Nation's trade with other countries. Jimmy Carter, Address to the Nation on Energy, Transcript, Miller Center at University of Virginia, April 18, . ", "Some of your Cabinet members don't seem loyal. Tonight I want to have an unpleasant talk with you about a problem that is unprecedented in our history. We've always believed in something called progress. They want lower taxes on their profits. We are strong. We are only cheating ourselves if we make energy artificially cheap and use more than we can really afford. --to insulate 90 percent of American homes and all new buildings; If it were possible to keep it rising during the 1970's and 1980's by 5 percent a year, as it has in the past, we could use up all the proven reserves of oil in the entire world by the end of the next decade. Carter ended by asking for input from average citizens to help him devise an energy agenda for the 1980s. Our solutions must ask equal sacrifices from every region, every class of people, and every interest group. I'm sure that each of you will find something you don't like about the specifics of our proposal. This has already started. State of the Union Address 1979. In it, Carter singled out a pervasive "crisis of confidence" preventing the American people from moving the country forward. Our energy plan captures and returns them to the public, where they can stimulate the economy, save more energy, and create new jobs. But I think most of you realize that a policy which does not ask for changes or sacrifices would not be an effective policy at this late date. We've always been proud of our ingenuity, our skill at answering questions. Our national security depends on more than just our Armed Forces; it also rests on the strength of our economy, on our national will, and on the ability of the United States to carry out our foreign policy as a free and independent nation. Carter, a liberal president, was heading into a presidential campaign just as a tide of conservatism was rising, led by presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan, who went on to win the 1980 campaign. Carter prefaced his talk about. We can regain our unity. ", "Don't talk to us about politics or the mechanics of government, but about an understanding of our common good. We've always wanted to give our children and our grandchildren a world richer in possibilities than we have had ourselves. That price is now almost five times as great as it was in 1973. There is something especially American in the kinds of changes that we have to make. We've always been proud of our vision of the future. What is being measured is the strength and will of our Nationwhether we can acknowledge a threat and meet a serious challenge together. Address to the nation on the War in Vietnam / Richard Nixon -- Remarks on taking the oath of office / Gerald R. Ford -- Energy and national goals : address to the nation / Jimmy Carter -- v. 5. The first principle is that we can have an effective and comprehensive energy policy only if the Government takes responsibility for it and if the people understand the seriousness of the challenge and are willing to make sacrifices. place in this century, with the growing use of oil and natural gas. ", Many people talked about themselves and about the condition of our Nation. The presidency of Jimmy Carter (article) | Khan Academy These funds will go to fight, not to increase, inflation and unemployment. Jimmy Carter: Family affair to the White House and beyond | Nation Amid looming concern regarding the scarcity of oil resources President Carter delivers a message in stark terms, urging Americans to band together in order to eliminate the wasting of energy resources. Download media. At one point, he talked about the possibility of read more, The critically acclaimed 2002 biopic Walk The Line depicts the life and career of Johnny Cash from his initial rise to stardom in the 1950s to his resurgence following a drug-fueled decline in the 1960s. We respected the Presidency as a place of honor until the shock of Watergate. It makes it harder for us to balance our Federal budget and to finance needed programs for our people. These are all controversial questions, and the congressional debates, as you can well imagine, are intense. But our energy plan also reflects the optimism that I feel about our ability to deal with these problems. I know that many of you have suspected that some supplies of oil and gas are being withheld from the market. I have no doubt that this is the right decision, because the other nations of the worldallies and adversaries alikeawait our energy decisions with a great interest and concern. This change became the basis of the Industrial Revolution. Our plan will call for strict conservation measures if we fall behind. The second change took. We can't continue to use oil and gas for 75 percent of our consumption, as we do now, when they only make up 7 percent of our domestic reserves. And you are also deeply involved in these decisions. Supplies will be uncertain. There is something especially American in the kinds of changes that we have to make. Our cars would continue to be too large and inefficient. We will use research and development projects, tax incentives and penalties, and regulatory authority to hasten the shift from oil and gas to coal, to wind and solar power, to geothermal, methane, and other energy sources. I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy. to insulate 90 percent of American homes and all new buildings;
President Jimmy Carter - Address to the Nation on Energy [Historical Looking for a way out of this crisis, our people have turned to the Federal Government and found it isolated from the mainstream of our Nation's life. But when this Nation critically needs a refinery or a pipeline, we will build it.