jimmy carter address to the nation on energyamtrak san jose to sacramento schedule
jimmy carter address to the nation on energy
The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America. Just since April, our oil imports have cost us $23 billionabout $350 worth of foreign oil for the average American family. If this trend continues, the excessive reliance on foreign oil could make the very security of our Nation increasingly dependent on uncertain energy supplies. We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources. We simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern ourselves, and faith in the future of this Nation. We will feel mounting pressure to plunder the environment. We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources. 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. 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. Jimmy Carter, Address to the Nation on Energy and National Goals: "The Malaise Speech" Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/249458, 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). This lack of moral and spiritual confidence, he concluded, was at the core of Americas inability to hoist itself out of its economic troubles. 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 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. They have never been healed. This change became the basis of the Industrial Revolution. And it will get worse every day until we act. We are only cheating ourselves if we make energy artificially cheap and use more than we can really afford. But our energy problem is worse tonight than it was in 1973 or a few weeks ago in the dead of winter. Exactly 3 years ago, on July 15, 1976, I accepted the nomination of my party to run for President of the United States. I've given you some of the principles of the plan. If we do not act, then by 1985 we will be using 33 percent more energy than we use today. If they succeed with this approach, then the burden on the ordinary citizen, who is not organized into an interest group, would be crushing. 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. I'm sure that each of you will find something you don't like about the specifics of our proposal. Three-quarters of them would carry only one person--the driver--while our public transportation system continues to decline. They want greatly increased prices for "old" oil and gasenergy supplies which have already been discovered and which are being produced now. Iran hostage crisis 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. ", This was a good one: "Be bold, Mr. President. Demand will overtake production. Our national energy plan is based on 10 fundamental principles. Copyright 2023. And it will get worse every day until we act. What is being measured is the strength and will of our Nationwhether we can acknowledge a threat and meet a serious challenge together. But we still have another choice. Yesterday, after careful consideration, I announced the postponement of a major overseas trip until after Christmas because of the paramount importance of developing an effective energy plan this year. We can begin to prepare right now. If they succeed with this approach, then the burden on the ordinary citizen, who is not organized into an interest group, would be crushing. And you are also deeply involved in these decisions. Confidence has defined our course and has served as a link between generations. A huge box-office hit, the film established Willis as a movie star and spawned three sequels. Every act of energy conservation like this is more than just common sense--I tell you it is an act of patriotism. Every gallon of oil each one of us saves is a new form of production. We can delay insulating our homes, and they will continue to lose about 50 percent of their heat in waste. Our children who will be born this year will come of age in the 21st century. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. The third principle is that we must protect the environment. 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. 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. All rights reserved. Last year we spent $36 billion for imported oil--nearly 10 times as much. A President is elected for just 4 years, a Senator for 6, and our Representatives in Congress for only 2 years. That is the concept of the energy policy that we will present on Wednesday. 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. And then I left Camp David to listen to other Americans, men and women like you. Jimmy Carter, "Address to the Nation on Energy," April 18, 1977 (excerpts). But we still have another choice. The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It's also especially difficult to deal with long-range, future challenges. The world now uses about 60 million barrels of oil a day, and demand increases each year about 5 percent. Presidential Speeches | Jimmy Carter Presidency Seated behind his ornate desk in the Oval Office and wearing a sober pinstriped suit, he offered a litany of dark predictions: I have seen the strength of America in the inexhaustible resources of our people. 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. The energy crisis is real. The world has not prepared for the future. But the sacrifices can be gradual, realistic, and they are necessary. They've come upon us gradually over the last generation, years that were filled with shocks and tragedy. We always believed that we were part of a great movement of humanity itself called democracy, involved in the search for freedom, and that belief has always strengthened us in our purpose. 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. The generation-long growth in our dependence on foreign oil will be stopped dead in its tracks right now and then reversed as we move through the 1980's, for I am tonight setting the further goal of cutting our dependence on foreign oil by one-half by the end of the next decade--a saving of over 4 1/2 million barrels of imported oil per day. We know the strength of America. It causes unemployment. Our emphasis on conservation is a clear difference between this plan and others which merely encouraged crash production efforts. But we do have a choice about how we will spend the next few years. Jimmy Carter, "Address to the Nation on Energy," April 18, 1977 (excerpts). 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 political pressures are great because the stakes are so high, billions and billions of dollars. Our consumption of oil would keep going up every year. 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 It will be money well spent. Many of these proposals will be unpopular. place in this century, with the growing use of oil and natural gas. In the late 1970s, the United States faced a variety of challenges, including high inflation, rising interest and unemployment rates, and an energy crisis created by . The energy. to insulate 90 percent of American homes and all new buildings; Imports have doubled in the last 5 years. On July 15, 1918, near the Marne River in the Champagne region of France, the Germans begin what would be their final offensive push of World War I. 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. The history of our Nation is one of meeting challenges and overcoming them. The statement marked a dramatic turning point in U.S.-China relations, as well as a major shift in American foreign policy. Let us commit ourselves together to a rebirth of the American spirit. We've always been proud, through our history, of being efficient people. National Energy Plan: Address to the Nation. 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. to reduce the annual growth rate in our energy demand to less than 2 percent; What can we do? To some degree, the sacrifices will be painfulbut so is any meaningful sacrifice. Jimmy Carter 39th President of the United States: 1977 1981 Address to the Nation on Energy and National Goals: "The Malaise Speech" July 15, 1979 Good evening. Surprising viewers, who were expecting a laundry list of proposals to deal with the energy crisis, Carter took a different tack. New oil prices would also rise in 3 years to the present world level and then be increased annually to keep up with inflation. ", "Some of your Cabinet members don't seem loyal. Our solutions must ask equal sacrifices from every region, every class of people, and every interest group. The question is, who should benefit from those rising prices for oil already discovered? 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. We can be sure that all the special interest groups in the country will attack the part of this plan that affects them directly. 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.
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