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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. Jimmy Carter the president, and Habitat volunteer | Education | city HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. World consumption of oil is still going up. 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. 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 a common national sacrifice to meet this serious problem should be shared by everyone-some proof that the plan is fair. View Transcript. - Jimmy Carter, Energy Address to the Nation, April 18, 1977. Transcript of Carter's Address to the Nation About Energy Problems 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. On July 15, 1979, amid stagnant economic growth, high inflation, and an energy crisis, Jimmy Carter delivered a televised address to the American people. It's fitting that I'm speaking to you on an election day, a day which reminds us that you, the people, are the rulers of this Nation, that your Government will be as courageous and effective and fair as you demand But we do have a choice about how we will spend the next few years. This plan is essential to protect our jobs, our environment, our standard of living, and our future. An effective conservation program will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. World oil production can probably keep going up for another 6 or 8 years. On July 15, 1979, amid stagnant economic growth, high inflation, and an energy crisis, Jimmy Carter delivered a televised address to the American people. They will say that sacrifice is fine as long as other people do it, but that their sacrifice is unreasonable or unfair or harmful to the country. ", "If you lead, Mr. President, we will follow. 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. These funds will go to fight, not to increase, inflation and unemployment. Address to the Nation on Energy | The American Presidency Project More than 6 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. It's a cause of the increased inflation and unemployment that we now face. Just as the search for solutions to our energy shortages has now led us to a new awareness of our Nation's deeper problems, so our willingness to work for those solutions in energy can strengthen us to attack those deeper problems. Little by little we can and we must rebuild our confidence. Our farmers are the greatest agricultural exporters the world has ever known, but it now takes all the food and fiber that we export in 2 years just to pay for 1 year of imported oilabout $45 billion. . . The energy crisis has not yet overwhelmed us, but it will if we do not act quickly. The gap between our citizens and our Government has never been so wide. Supplies will be uncertain. ", "We've got to use what we have. Our emphasis on conservation is a clear difference between this plan and others which merely encouraged crash production efforts. To further conserve energy, I'm proposing tonight an extra $10 billion over the next decade to strengthen our public transportation systems. The presidency of Jimmy Carter (article) | Khan Academy 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. You know we can do it. Last year we spent $36 billion for imported oil--nearly 10 times as much. You may be right, but suspicions about the oil companies cannot change the fact that we are running out of petroleum. Presidential Speeches | Jimmy Carter Presidency We can regain our unity. On July 15, 1979, President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation via live television to discuss the nation's energy crisis and accompanying recession. We often think of conservation only in terms of sacrifice. It is a true challenge of this generation of Americans. Thank you very much. The first was about 200 years ago, when we changed away from wood--which had provided about 90 percent of all fuelto coal, which was much more efficient. Tonight I want to have an unpleasant talk with you about a problem that is unprecedented in our history. We must deal with the energy problem on a war footing. But our energy plan also reflects the optimism that I feel about our ability to deal with these problems. November 08, 1977. What are his proposed solutions? They are the ones who will suffer most if we don't act. ", This kind of summarized a lot of other statements: "Mr. President, we are confronted with a moral and a spiritual crisis.". Jimmy Carter, "Crisis of Confidence" (1979) - American Yawp Democrat Jimmy Carter served as president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. Other generations of Americans have faced and mastered great challenges. The Congress has recognized the urgency of this problem and has come to grips with some of the most complex and difficult decisions that a legislative body has ever been asked to make. That price is now almost five times as great as it was in 1973. They were more convenient and cheaper than coal, and the supply seemed to be almost without limit. Jimmy Carter, "Address to the Nation on Energy," April 18, 1977 President Carter Farewell Address | C-SPAN.org Jimmy Carter's Energy Policy Legacy Copyright 2023. 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. These proposals would provide adequate incentives for exploration and production of domestic oil and gas, but some of the oil companies want much moretens of billions of dollars more. Washington, D.C., has become an island. 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 fifth principle is that we must be fair. How does Carter link the energy crisis to a crisis of the American spirit? And I do not refer to the outward strength of America, a nation that is at peace tonight everywhere in the world, with unmatched economic power and military might. In it, Carter singled out a pervasive "crisis of confidence" preventing the American people from moving the country forward. 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. I propose the creation of an energy security corporation to lead this effort to replace 2 1/2 million barrels of imported oil per day by 1990. But after listening to the American people I have been reminded again that all the legislation in the world can't fix what's wrong with America. I can't tell you that these measures will be easy, nor will they be popular. What you see too often in Washington and elsewhere around the country is a system of government that seems incapable of action. Further delay can affect our strength and our power as a nation. "We can't go on consuming 40 percent more energy than we produce. There is some part of this complex legislation to which every region and every interest group can object. Because we are now running out of gas and oil, we must prepare quickly for a third change--to strict conservation and to the renewed use of coal and to permanent renewable energy sources like solar power. 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. We are at a turning point in our history. The cost will keep going up. The choices facing the Members of Congress are not easy. Our energy plan will also include a number of specific goals to measure our progress toward a stable energy system. Every act of energy conservation like this is more than just common sense--I tell you it is an act of patriotism. Now, these 10 principles have guided the development of the policy that I will describe to you and the Congress on Wednesday night. Many of these proposals will be unpopular. But you did not choose your elected officials simply to fill an office. 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. I've given you some of the principles of the plan. Every $5 billion increase in oil imports costs us 200,000 American jobs. When President Jimmy Carter addressed the nation on April 18, 1977, the U.S. was in a crisis. Our consumption of oil would keep going up every year. The former . It feeds serious inflationary pressures in our own economy. We've also proposed, and the Congress is reviewing, incentives to encourage production of oil and gas here in our own country. The energy. ", And this one from a labor leader got to the heart of it: "The real issue is freedom. They are the ones who will suffer most if we don't act. A Democrat, he was governor of Georgia from 1971-1975, and a member of the state Legislature (in the Senate) from 1963 to 1967. National Energy Plan: Address to the Nation. And you are also deeply involved in these decisions. Those citizens who insist on driving large, unnecessarily powerful cars must expect to pay more for that luxury. But we can make that transition smoothlyfor our country and for our children and for our grandchildrenonly if we take careful steps now to prepare ourselves for the future. They want lower taxes on their profits. 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. We have the ability to administer the new energy legislation, and congressional work on the National Energy Plan has now reached the final stage. Carter was unable to solve most of the problems plaguing the country during his administration, including an ailing economy and a continuing energy crisis. . They will endure. He outlined a plan to tackle the crisis . 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; There are three things that we must do to avoid this danger: first, cut back on consumption; second, shift away from oil and gas to other sources of energy; and third, encourage production of energy here in the United States. 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. ", "You don't see the people enough any more. We've always been proud of our leadership in the world. We have more coal than any nation on Earth. 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. The Congress is facing very difficult decisions, courageously, and we've formed a good partnership. The most important thing about these proposals is that the alternative may be a national catastrophe. Demand will overtake production. For the fifth time I would have described the urgency of the problem and laid out a series of legislative recommendations to the Congress. Three-quarters of them would carry only one personthe driverwhile our public transportation system continues to decline. Although all countries could, of course, be more efficient, we are the worst offender. We are strong. I will listen and I will act. And now we have a chance again to give the world a positive example. Supplies will be uncertain. It makes it harder for us to balance our Federal budget and to finance needed programs for our people. We can't substantially increase our domestic production, so we would need to import twice as much oil as we do now. 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. Only by saving energy can we maintain our standard of living and keep our people at work. 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. Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. This plan is essential to protect our jobs, our environment, our standard of living, and our future. Our consumption of oil would keep going up every year. Only by saving energy can we maintain our standard of living and keep our people at work. Well, I understand how he felt, but I must tell you the truth. By acting now we can control our future instead of letting the future control us. Above all, they will be fair. current level; But we do have a choice about how we will spend the next few years. We will monitor our progress toward these goals year by year. Will Obama and his ilk learn the lessons of history? Good evening. It will lead to some higher costs and to some greater inconvenience for everyone. It will be money well spent. I'll read just a few. These are the goals that we set for 1985: Dubbed the Second Battle of the Marne, the conflict ended several days later in a major victory for the Allies. ", 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. In little more than two decades we've gone from a position of energy independence to one in which almost half the oil we use comes from foreign countries, at prices that are going through the roof. To some degree, the sacrifices will be painful--but so is any meaningful sacrifice. Our children who will be born this year will come of age in the 21st century. Jimmy Carter and the Energy Crisis that Never Happened 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. They will say that sacrifice is fine as long as other people do it, but that their sacrifice is unreasonable or unfair or harmful to the country. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search . I said 6 months ago that no one would be completely satisfied with this National Energy Plan. With the exception of preventing war, this is the greatest challenge that our country will face during our lifetime. We've always wanted to give our children and our grandchildren a world richer in possibilities than we have had ourselves. They were more convenient and cheaper than coal, and the supply seemed to be almost without limit. to reduce the annual growth rate in our energy demand to less than 2 percent; 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. But if we fail to act boldly today, then we will surely face a greater series of crises tomorrowenergy shortages, environmental damage, ever more massive Government bureaucracy and regulations, and illconsidered, last-minute crash programs. Last year we spent $36 billion for imported oilnearly 10 times as much. Unless we act, we will spend more than $550 billion for imported oil by 1985--more than $2,500 for every man, woman, and child in America. President Carter delivered this speech on the energy crisis in 1977. The third principle is that we must protect the environment. It will demand that we make sacrifices and changes in every life. Jimmy Carter, "Address to the Nation on Energy and National Goals: 'The Malaise Speech,'" July 15, 1979. 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. It gives us more freedom, more confidence, that much more control over our own lives. I have seen the strength of America in the inexhaustible resources of our people. 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. I know that many of you have suspected that some supplies of oil and gas are being withheld from the market. And in each of those decades, more oil was consumed than in all of man's previous history combined. The sixth principle, and the cornerstone of our policy, is to reduce demand through conservation. The most important thing about these proposals is that the alternative may be a national catastrophe. We can manage the short-term shortages more effectively and we will, but there are no short-term solutions to our long-range problems. He had earned it. When President Jimmy Carter addressed the nation on April 18, 1977, the U.S. was in a crisis. What is being measured is the strength and will of our Nationwhether we can acknowledge a threat and meet a serious challenge together. These are facts and we simply must face them: What I have to say to you now about energy is simple and vitally important. The seventh principle is that prices should generally reflect the true replacement cost of energy. This lack of moral and spiritual confidence, he concluded, was at the core of Americas inability to hoist itself out of its economic troubles. This has already started. Conservation helps us solve both problems at once. Demand will overtake production. Carter's Presidency Flashcards | Quizlet Our plan will call for strict conservation measures if we fall behind. The corporation will issue up to $5 billion in energy bonds, and I especially want them to be in small denominations so that average Americans can invest directly in America's energy security. 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. Download media. We've always been proud of our vision of the future. The ninth principle is that we must conserve the fuels that are scarcest and make the most of those that are plentiful. The political pressures are great because the stakes are so high, billions and billions of dollars. I will be working closely with them. Primary Source: Jimmy Carter, "Crisis of Confidence" (1979) Our energy plan captures and returns them to the public, where they can stimulate the economy, save more energy, and create new jobs. Our Nation's economic and political independence is becoming increasingly vulnerable. In the 1970s, oil and gas shortages experienced in many parts of the U.S. were erroneously blamed on resource exhaustion rather than government price and allocation controls. 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." 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." 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. Point two: To ensure that we meet these targets, I will use my Presidential authority to set import quotas. It will demand that we make sacrifices and changes in every life. All of us have heard about the large oil fields on Alaska's North Slope. I believe that this can be a positive challenge. We can regain our confidence. Carter's "Malaise Speech" of 1979 (remembering the crisis of The sixth principle, and the cornerstone of our policy, is to reduce demand through conservation. During the 1960's, we used twice as much as during the 1950's. If they succeed with this approach, then the burden on the ordinary citizen, who is not organized into an interest group, would be crushing. Within 10 years, we would not be able to import enough oil from any country, at any acceptable price. And above all, I will act. Our Nation's economic and political independence is becoming increasingly vulnerable. The productivity of American workers is actually dropping, and the willingness of Americans to save for the future has fallen below that of all other people in the Western world. I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy. 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. The energy crisis is real. They made possible the age of automobile and airplane travel. It costs about $13 to waste it. That is the concept of the energy policy that we will present on Wednesday. We've always been proud, through our history, of being efficient people. Tonight I want to have an unpleasant talk with you about a problem that is unprecedented in our history. Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this Nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally. It hurts every American family. In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. 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 no choice about that. Intense competition for oil will build up among nations and also among the different regions within our own country. Carter retreated to Camp David, where he met with Americans from various backgrounds and spoke . With about the same standard of living, we use twice as much energy per person as do other countries like Germany, Japan, and Sweden. ", And this from a young Chicano: "Some of us have suffered from recession all our lives. We waste more energy than we import. That path would be one of constant conflict between narrow interests ending in chaos and immobility. It's clear that the true problems of our Nation are much deeperdeeper than gasoline lines or energy shortages, deeper even than inflation or recession. 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. We simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern ourselves, and faith in the future of this Nation. He outlined the creation of a solar bank that he said would eventually supply 20 percent of the nations energy. Energy and the National Goals - A Crisis of Confidence - Jimmy Carter : Discuss: Jimmy Carter - Address to the Nation on Energy (April 18, 1977) Discuss: Jimmy Carter - Address to the Nation on Energy (November 8, 1977) Discuss: Jimmy Carter - President Carter's Remarks on Joint Statement at Camp David Summit (September 17, 1978) Discuss This is where another major controversy arises. The statement marked a dramatic turning point in U.S.-China relations, as well as a major shift in American foreign policy. Each American uses the energy equivalent of 60 barrels of oil per person each year. 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. that it be. 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. 25 photos show Jimmy Carter's inspiring life, from humble beginnings to Exactly 3 years ago, on July 15, 1976, I accepted the nomination of my party to run for President of the United States. Whether this plan truly makes a difference will not be decided now here in Washington but in every town and every factory, in every home and on every highway and every farm. But the sacrifices can be gradual, realistic, and they are necessary. Jimmy Carter was born on October 1, 1924, in the farming community of Plains, Georgia. Thank you very much, and good night. We are only Cheating ourselves if we make energy artificially cheap and use more than we can really afford. Our plan will call for strict conservation measures if we fall behind. One such lesson is don't count conventional energy out. There should be only one test for this program--whether it will help our country. This is the direct cause of the long lines which have made millions of you spend aggravating hours waiting for gasoline. Details for: The Library of Congress presents historic presidential The selection of this time span made perfect sense from a Hollywood read more, On July 15, 1988, Die Hard, an action film starring Bruce Willis as wisecracking New York City cop John McClane, opens in theaters across the United States. 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. Industry will have to do its part to conserve just as consumers will. Jimmy Carter speaks about a national "crisis in confidence" 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. We have the natural resources. to increase our coal production by about two-thirds to more than one billion tons a year; 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. First, it's fair both to the American consumers and to the energy producers, and it will not disrupt our national economy. The question is, who should benefit from those rising prices for oil already discovered? And this year we may spend $45 billion. 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. This difficult effort will be the "moral equivalent of war," except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not to destroy. It's a problem that we will not be able to solve in the next few years, and it's likely to get progressively worse through the rest of this century. You see a Congress twisted and pulled in every direction by hundreds of well-financed and powerful special interests. He proposed a plan to solve the crisis that focused on expanding the government's responsibility, promoting conservation, and expanding the search for oil to previously untapped areas.