Since the great price rise in 1973, the Japanese have cut their oil imports, the Germans, the French, the British, the Italians have all cut their oil imports. And now we have a chance again to give the world a positive example. We must not be selfish or timid if we hope to have a decent world for our children and our grandchildren. We have no choice about that. A huge box-office hit, the film established Willis as a movie star and spawned three sequels. 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. 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. Some will cause you to put up with inconveniences and to make sacrifices. 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 . I said 6 months ago that no one would be completely satisfied with this National Energy Plan. I've given you some of the principles of the plan. Three-quarters of them would carry only one person--the driver--while our public transportation system continues to decline. But we still have another choice. You know we can do it. But a common national sacrifice to meet this serious problem should be shared by everyone-some proof that the plan is fair. Obviously, this cannot continue. This is a special night for me. And then I left Camp David to listen to other Americans, men and women like you. We can continue using scarce oil and natural gas to generate electricity and continue wasting two-thirds of their fuel value in the process. The fifth principle is that we must be fair. Perspective | What Jimmy Carter's most famous moment can teach the These are the goals that we set for 1985: --to reduce the annual growth rate in our energy demand to less than 2 percent; --to reduce gasoline consumption by 10 percent below its. To further conserve energy, I'm proposing tonight an extra $10 billion over the next decade to strengthen our public transportation systems. 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. We waste more energy than we import. 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. Those citizens who insist on driving large, unnecessarily powerful cars must expect to pay more for that luxury. I'm convinced that we can have enough energy to permit the continued growth of our economy, to expand production and jobs, and to protect the security of the United Statesif we act wisely. The cost will keep going up. We can begin to prepare right now. This change became the basis of the Industrial Revolution. This has already started. 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. Our emphasis on conservation is a clear difference between this plan and others which merely encouraged crash production efforts. We are at a turning point in our history. And above all, I will act. You may be right, but suspicions about the oil companies cannot change the fact that we are running out of petroleum. Columbia Energy Exchange - Jimmy Carter's Energy Policy Legacy on Stitcher I know, of course, being President, that government actions and legislation can be very important. Ours is the most wasteful nation on Earth. It gives us more freedom, more confidence, that much more control over our own lives. Although all countries could, of course, be more efficient, we are the worst offender. This major legislation is a necessary first step on a long and difficult road. Now, I know that some of you may doubt that we face real energy shortages. I'm sure that each of you will find something you don't like about the specifics of our proposal. In his speech, President Carter called the crisis "the moral equivalent of war" and called on Americans to conserve . The nation is shocked when the President tells them to "put on a sweater" instead of turn up the heat (using energy and fuel). The 1973 gas lines are gone, and with this springtime weather, our homes are warm again. Transcript of Carter's Address to the Nation About Energy Problems When President Jimmy Carter addressed the nation on April 18, 1977, the U.S. was in a crisis. National Energy Plan: Address to the Nation. | The American Presidency Why have we not been able to get together as a nation to resolve our serious energy problem? 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. Our Nation's economic and political independence is becoming increasingly vulnerable. 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. Jimmy Carter and the Meaning of Malaise - JSTOR Daily When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search . Point two: To ensure that we meet these targets, I will use my Presidential authority to set import quotas. Now we have a choice. Some will cause you to put up with inconveniences and to make sacrifices. In his speech, President Carter called the crisis "the moral equivalent o I believe that the duties of this office permit me to do no less. Iran hostage crisis But just as we are losing our confidence in the future, we are also beginning to close the door on our past. We will protect our environment. And now we have a chance again to give the world a positive example. All of us have heard about the large oil fields on Alaska's North Slope. Our cars would continue to be too large and inefficient. Pike was instructed to seek out headwaters of the Arkansas and Red rivers and to investigate read more, Spree killer Andrew Cunanan murders world-renowned Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace on the steps outside his Miami mansion. Our Campaigns - Candidate - Jimmy Carter The energy crisis is real. The energy crisis has not yet overwhelmed us, but it will if we do not act quickly. Intense competition for oil will build up among nations and also among the different regions within our own country. 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. So, the solution of our energy crisis can also help us to conquer the crisis of the spirit in our country. Our energy plan will also include a number of specific goals to measure our progress toward a stable energy system. In closing, let me say this: I will do my best, but I will not do it alone. Following is a transcript of President Carter's address to the nation on energy problems last night in Washington, as recorded by The New York Times through the facilities of ABC News: It's. Jimmy Carter Has 'Still Got Some Time In Him,' So There's Still Time to Speak Ill of Him. 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. Inflation will soar; production will go down; people will lose their jobs. I believe that this can be a positive challenge. Seated behind his ornate desk in the Oval Office and wearing a sober pinstriped suit, he offered a litany of dark predictions: The presidency of Jimmy Carter (article) | Khan Academy A few weeks ago, in Detroit, an unemployed steelworker told me something that may reflect the feelings of many of you. What you see too often in Washington and elsewhere around the country is a system of government that seems incapable of action. Now we need efficiency and ingenuity more than ever. We've also proposed, and the Congress is reviewing, incentives to encourage production of oil and gas here in our own country. We have the ability to administer the new energy legislation, and congressional work on the National Energy Plan has now reached the final stage. American wisdom and courage right now can set a path to follow in the future. We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources. Our excessive dependence on OPEC has already taken a tremendous toll on our economy and our people. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency . 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. With about the same standard of living, we use twice as much energy per person as do other countries like Germany, Japan, and Sweden. 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. There should be only one test for this program--whether it will help our country. National Energy Plan: Address to the Nation. Moreover, I will soon submit legislation to Congress calling for the creation of this Nation's first solar bank, which will help us achieve the crucial goal of 20 percent of our energy coming from solar power by the year 2000. State of the Union Address 1979. A graduate of the U.S. And it will get worse every day until we act. Too few of our utility companies will have switched to coal, which is our most abundant energy source. I promised you a President who is not isolated from the people, who feels your pain, and who shares your dreams and who draws his strength and his wisdom from you. The third principle is that we must protect the environment. But our energy problem is worse tonight than it was in 1973 or a few weeks ago in the dead of winter. For the fifth time I would have described the urgency of the problem and laid out a series of legislative recommendations to the Congress. What are his proposed solutions? Just as a similar synthetic rubber corporation helped us win World War II, so will we mobilize American determination and ability to win the energy war. I have faith that meeting this challenge will make our own lives even richer. We have no choice about that. January 23, 1979. A look at Jimmy Carter's legacy in Georgia and around the world Dubbed the Second Battle of the Marne, the conflict ended several days later in a major victory for the Allies. Industry will have to do its part to conserve just as consumers will. Jimmy Carter speaks on 'a crisis of confidence,' July 15, 1979 And in each of those decades, more oil was consumed than in all of man's previous history combined. In spite of increased effort, domestic production has been dropping steadily at about 6 percent a year. Our cars would continue to be too large and inefficient. Copyright 2023. As you know, there is a growing disrespect for government and for churches and for schools, the news media, and other institutions. We have the natural resources. Because we are now running out of gas and oil, we must prepare quickly for a third changeto strict conservation and to the renewed use of coal and to permanent renewable energy sources like solar power. They have never been healed. Within 10 years, we would not be able to import enough oil from any country, at any acceptable price. ", This kind of summarized a lot of other statements: "Mr. President, we are confronted with a moral and a spiritual crisis.". 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. So, I want to speak to you first tonight about a subject even more serious than energy or inflation. Jimmy Carter, Address to the Nation on Energy Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/243395, The American Presidency ProjectJohn Woolley and Gerhard PetersContact, Copyright The American Presidency ProjectTerms of Service | Privacy | Accessibility, Saturday Weekly Addresses (Radio and Webcast) (1639), State of the Union Written Messages (140). 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. Every $5 billion increase in oil imports costs us 200,000 American jobs. World consumption of oil is still going up. Four months earlier, on March 25, the police and a tenant at 10 Rillington Place in West London made an awful discovery: the bodies of four women in an empty apartment, three in a hidden cupboard and one more read more, On July 15, 1903, the newly formed Ford Motor Company takes its first order from Chicago dentist Ernst Pfenning: an $850 two-cylinder Model A automobile with a tonneau (or backseat). Conservation helps us solve both problems at once. It makes it harder for us to balance our Federal budget and to finance needed programs for our people. Forty years ago tonight, President Jimmy Carter delivered his Address to the Nation on National Energy Policy, better known as the "Moral Equivalent of War" speech. 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. 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. These are serious problems, and this has been a serious talk. The world now uses about 60 million barrels of oil a day, and demand increases each year about 5 percent. One is a path I've warned about tonight, the path that leads to fragmentation and self-interest. Too few of our utility companies will have switched to coal, which is our most abundant energy source. Presidential Speeches | Jimmy Carter Presidency Now we need efficiency and ingenuity more than ever. 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. Conservation is the only way that we can buy a barrel of oil for about $2. President Jimmy Carter (b. Let your voice be heard. Center on Global Energy Policy in Boydton, VA Expand search. Exactly 3 years ago, on July 15, 1976, I accepted the nomination of my party to run for President of the United States. place in this century, with the growing use of oil and natural gas. I do not promise you that this struggle for freedom will be easy. I do not mean our political and civil liberties. It will demand that we make sacrifices and changes in every life. We will monitor the accuracy of data from the oil and natural gas companies for the first time, so that we will always know their true production, supplies, reserves, and profits. 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. . You may be right, but suspicions about the oil companies cannot change the fact that we are running out of petroleum. 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. President Carter was elected to office several years after the 1973 Oil Embargo, which devastated the gas turbine market in the United State. One choice, of course, is to continue doing what we've been doing before. It's worse because more waste has occurred and more time has passed by without our planning for the future. Second, as I've said before, it's designed to meet our important goals for energy conservation, to promote a shift to more plentiful and permanent energy supplies and encourage increased production of energy in the United States. The energy crisis has not yet overwhelmed us, but it will if we do not act quickly. And third, it protects our Federal budget from any unreasonable burden. When President Jimmy Carter addressed the nation on April 18, 1977, the U.S. was in a crisis. If they succeed with this approach, then the burden on the ordinary citizen, who is not organized into an interest group, would be crushing. 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. He also pledged a massive commitment of funds and resources to develop alternative fuel sources including coal, plant products and solar power. Jimmy Carter the president, and Habitat volunteer | Education | city On June 30, 1979, a weary Jimmy Carter was looking forward to a few days' vacation in Hawaii, as Air Force One sped him away from a grueling economic summit in Tokyo. That is the concept of the energy policy that we will present on Wednesday. The message was usually focused on energy conservation. World oil production can probably keep going up for another 6 or 8 years. If this trend continues, the excessive reliance on foreign oil could make the very security of our Nation increasingly dependent on uncertain energy supplies. Confidence in the future has supported everything else--public institutions and private enterprise, our own families, and the very Constitution of the United States. Demand will overtake production. We have the world's highest level of technology. Last year we spent $36 billion for imported oilnearly 10 times as much. President Jimmy Carter asks Americans to sacrifice for the sake of greater energy conservation and independence. Our people are losing that faith, not only in government itself but in the ability as citizens to serve as the ultimate rulers and shapers of our democracy. Only by saving energy can we maintain our standard of living and keep our people at work. His remarks were broadcast live on radio and television. 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. 25 photos show Jimmy Carter's inspiring life, from humble beginnings to This problem has come upon us suddenly. Previous. World consumption of oil is still going up. We may make mistakes, but we are ready to experiment. During the 1960's, we used twice as much as during the 1950's. We can spend until we empty our treasuries, and we may summon all the wonders of science. 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. We will not be ready to keep our transportation system running with smaller and more efficient cars and a better network of buses, trains, and public transportation. Our solutions must ask equal sacrifices from every region, every class of people, and every interest group. On July 15, 1979, President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation via live television to discuss the nations energy crisis and accompanying recession. A Democrat, he was governor of Georgia from 1971-1975, and a member of the state Legislature (in the Senate) from 1963 to 1967. To jumpstart this program, Carter asked Congress to form an energy mobilization board modeled after the War Production Board of World War II, and asked the legislature to enact a windfall profits tax immediately to fight inflation and unemployment. That path would be one of constant conflict between narrow interests ending in chaos and immobility. On the battlefield of energy we can win for our Nation a new confidence, and we can seize control again of our common destiny. In it, Carter singled out a pervasive "crisis of confidence" preventing the American people from moving the country forward. I will listen and I will act. that it be. We can drift along for a few more years. Copyright 2023. Working together with our common faith we cannot fail. It feeds serious inflationary pressures in our own economy. Play Video. They want even higher prices than those we've proposed for "new" gas and oil, and they want the higher prices sooner. World oil production can probably keep going up for another 6 or 8 years. Thereafter, I was so dismayed by his presidency that I betrayed my natal Democratic Party and voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980. - Jimmy Carter, Energy Address to the Nation, April 18, 1977. That path leads to true freedom for our Nation and ourselves. And this year we may spend $45 billion. Further delay can affect our strength and our power as a nation. 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. On July 15, 1979, President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation via live television to discuss the nation's energy crisis and accompanying recession. 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.". The world has not prepared for the future. I have faith that meeting this challenge will make our own lives even richer. Many groups have risen to the challenge. All Rights Reserved. This incentive for new oil production would be the highest in the whole world. ; Carter went on to serve in the US Navy and was sworn in as president in 1977. Unless we act quickly, imports will continue to go up, and all the problems that I've just described will grow even worse. We've recommended that the price, for instance, of new natural gas be raised each year to the average price of domestic oil that would produce the same amount of energy. 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. I will continue to travel this country, to hear the people of America. Beginning this moment, this Nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977--never. In a few years, when the North Slope is producing fully, its total output will be just about equal to 2 years' increase in our own Nation's energy demand. President Carter speaks to the American people about the importance of an energy policy that focuses on conservation of the nation's natural resources and a new energy department. There is not enough discipline among your disciples. Point six: I'm proposing a bold conservation program to involve every State, county, and city and every average American in our energy battle. We could endanger our freedom as a sovereign nation to act in foreign affairs. Jimmy Carter, "Address to the Nation on Energy," April 18, 1977 (excerpts). On this day in 1979, with energy prices soaring and interest rates spiking, President Jimmy Carter told an anxious nation in a prime-time televised address that it faced "a crisis of. Point four: I'm asking Congress to mandate, to require as a matter of law, that our Nation's utility companies cut their massive use of oil by 50 percent within the next decade and switch to other fuels, especially coal, our most abundant energy source. Although the energy crisis and recession were the main topics of conversation, Carter heard from the attendees that Americans were also suffering from a deeper moral and spiritual crisis. Our solutions must ask equal sacrifices from every region, every class of people, and every interest group. Jimmy Carter, "Address to the Nation on Energy," April 18, 1977. One choice, of course, is to continue doing what we've been doing before. We waste more energy than we import. Those citizens who insist on driving large, unnecessarily powerful cars must expect to pay more for that luxury.

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