It is worldwide. I have seen the strength of America in the inexhaustible resources of our people. The sixth principle, and the cornerstone of our policy, is to reduce demand through conservation. Two days from now, I will present to the Congress my energy proposals.. Its Members will be my partners, and they have already given me a great deal of valuable advice. Note: The President spoke at 8 p.m. from the Oval Office at the White House. During the 1950's, people used twice as much oil as during the 1940's. In his speech, President Carter called the crisis "the moral equivalent o Now, these 10 principles have guided the development of the policy that I will describe to you and the Congress on Wednesday night. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. We will feel mounting pressure to plunder the environment. But the sacrifices can be gradual, realistic, and they are necessary. Imports have doubled in the last 5 years. We may make mistakes, but we are ready to experiment. And the truth is that you cannot talk about economic problems now or in the future without talking about energy. Last year we spent $36 billion for imported oil--nearly 10 times as much. Unlike the billions of dollars that we ship to foreign countries to pay for foreign oil, these funds will be paid by Americans to Americans. 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." Two days from now, I will present to the Congress my energy proposals.. Its Members will be my partners, and they have already given me a great deal of valuable advice. No one will be asked to bear an unfair burden. We've always wanted to give our children and our grandchildren a world richer in possibilities than we have had ourselves. These are all controversial questions, and the congressional debates, as you can well imagine, are intense. And I realize more than ever that as President I need your help. Last year we spent $36 billion for imported oilnearly 10 times as much. Within 10 years, we would not be able to import enough oil from any country, at any acceptable price. In it, Carter singled out a pervasive "crisis of confidence" preventing the American people from moving the country forward. The political pressures are great because the stakes are so high, billions and billions of dollars. Ours is the most wasteful nation on Earth. I hope that, perhaps a hundred years from now, the change to inexhaustible energy sources will have been made, and our Nation's concern about energy will be over. But we can succeed only if we tap our greatest resources--America's people, America's values, and America's confidence. President Jimmy Carter (b. Danny De Gracia: What Hawaii Legislators Can Learn From Jimmy Carter I have faith that meeting this challenge will make our own lives even richer. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, November 8, 1977: Address to the Nation on Energy, Notice of Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity, Miller Center: November 8, 1977: Address to the Nation on Energy, September 7, 1977: Statement on the Panama Canal Treaty Signing, January 19, 1978: State of the Union Address, September 17, 1978: President Carter's Remarks on Joint Statement at Camp David Summit, October 24, 1978: Anti-Inflation Program Speech, December 15, 1978: Speech on Establishing Diplomatic Relations with China, January 23, 1979: State of the Union Address, July 15, 1979: "Crisis of Confidence" Speech, January 23, 1980: State of the Union Address, April 25, 1980: Statement on the Iran Rescue Mission, August 14, 1980: Acceptance Speech at the Democratic National Convention. Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States. Six years ago, we paid $3.7 billion for imported oil. Industry will have to do its part to conserve just as consumers will. With every passing month, our energy problems have grown worse. Three-quarters of them would carry only one person--the driver--while our public transportation system continues to decline. Our energy plan will also include a number of specific goals to measure our progress toward a stable energy system. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency . You may be right, but suspicions about the oil companies cannot change the fact that we are running out of petroleum. Many groups have risen to the challenge. To some degree, the sacrifices will be painfulbut so is any meaningful sacrifice. Now we need efficiency and ingenuity more than ever. World oil production can probably keep going up for another 6 or 8 years. . Jimmy Carter, "Malaise" Speech, July 15, 1979 - Bill of Rights This summer we used more oil and gasoline than ever before in our history. The 1973 gas lines are gone, and with this springtime weather, our homes are warm again. Born as a side project apart from Odeos main podcasting platform, the free application allowed users read more, The unmanned spacecraft Mariner 4 passes over Mars at an altitude of 6,000 feet and sends back to Earth the first close-up images of the red planet. The Arab oil embargo of 1973 sent energy prices soaring, and four years later, the impacts were still rippling through the economy. He outlined a plan to tackle the crisis . The fifth principle is that we must be fair. ", And this from a religious leader: "No material shortage can touch the important things like God's love for us or our love for one another. Let me try to describe the size and the effect of the problem. Will Obama and his ilk learn the lessons of history? The tenth and last principle is that we must start now to develop the new, unconventional sources of energy that we will rely on in the next century. We have the most skilled work force, with innovative genius, and I firmly believe that we have the national will to win this war. We are only cheating ourselves if we make energy artificially cheap and use more than we can really afford. 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." Working with Congress, we've now formed a new Department of Energy, headed by Secretary James Schlesinger. I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy. You often see a balanced and a fair approach that demands sacrifice, a little sacrifice from everyone, abandoned like an orphan without support and without friends. ", And I like this one particularly from a black woman who happens to be the mayor of a small Mississippi town: "The big-shots are not the only ones who are important. 1924) giving one of his fireside chats on energy. We've always been proud, through our history, of being efficient people. We can't substantially increase our domestic production, so we would need to import twice as much oil as we do now. Jimmy Carter's Energy Policy Legacy The strength we need will not come from the White House, but from every house in America.". And we are the generation that will win the war on the energy problem and in that process rebuild the unity and confidence of America. During the next few weeks, the Congress will make a judgment on these vital questions. 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. The ninth principle is that we must conserve the fuels that are scarcest and make the most of those that are plentiful. The confidence that we have always had as a people is not simply some romantic dream or a proverb in a dusty book that we read just on the Fourth of July. The message was usually focused on energy conservation. I can't tell you that these measures will be easy, nor will they be popular. And in each of those decades, more oil was consumed than in all of man's previous history combined. Another very important question before Congress is how to let the market price for domestic oil go up to reflect the cost of replacing it while, at the same time, protecting the American consumers and our own economy. But over those years the subjects of the speeches, the talks, and the press conferences have become increasingly narrow, focused more and more on what the isolated world of Washington thinks is important. How does Carter link the energy crisis to a crisis of the American spirit? The 1973 gas lines are gone, and with this springtime weather, our homes are warm again. These are the goals that we set for 1985: National Energy Plan: Address to the Nation. | The American Presidency 12874 Into Law," November 4, 1978. On July 15, 1978, the Longest Walka 2,800-mile trek for Native American justice that had started with several hundred marchers in Californiaends in Washington, D.C., accompanied by thousands of supporters. Whenever you have a chance, say something good about our country. We will feel mounting pressure to plunder the environment. Restoring that faith and that confidence to America is now the most important task we face. If we wait and do not act, then our factories will not be able to keep our people on the job with reduced supplies of fuel. James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American retired politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. This is one reason that I'm working with the Congress to create a new Department of Energy to replace more than 50 different agencies that now have some control over energy. The eighth principle is that Government policies must be predictable and certain. ", "There will be other cartels and other shortages. Center on Global Energy Policy in Boydton, VA Expand search. Confidence has defined our course and has served as a link between generations. There should be only one test for this programwhether it will help our country. He outlined the creation of a solar bank that he said would eventually supply 20 percent of the nations energy. to insulate 90 percent of American homes and all new buildings; 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; It is a certain route to failure. One is a path I've warned about tonight, the path that leads to fragmentation and self-interest. It's always been easier to wait until the next year or the next term of office, to avoid political risk. Carter also addresses his ideas to improve the economy and reduce the size of government. place in this century, with the growing use of oil and natural gas. ", "You don't see the people enough any more. A few weeks ago, in Detroit, an unemployed steelworker told me something that may reflect the feelings of many of you. When President Jimmy Carter addressed the nation on April 18, 1977, the U.S. was in a crisis. The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us. All of us have heard about the large oil fields on Alaska's North Slope. Previous. You see a Congress twisted and pulled in every direction by hundreds of well-financed and powerful special interests. But the sacrifices can be gradual, realistic, and they are necessary. In order to conserve energy, the Congress is now acting to make our automobiles, our homes, and appliances more efficient and to encourage industry to save both heat and electricity. A President is elected for just 4 years, a Senator for 6, and our Representatives in Congress for only 2 years. 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 third, it protects our Federal budget from any unreasonable burden. 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. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a Georgia state senator from 1963 to 1967, and as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975.. Carter was born and raised in Plains, Georgia, graduated from the United States Naval . This change became the basis of the Industrial Revolution. Unless profound changes are made to lower oil consumption, we now believe that early in the 1980's the world will be demanding more oil than it can produce. The third principle is that we must protect the environment. 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. Each American uses the energy equivalent of 60 barrels of oil per person each year. Well, I understand how he felt, but I must tell you the truth. 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. The president was scheduled to deliver a speech on July 4 but canceled at the last minute. Jimmy Carter: Family affair to the White House and beyond | Nation