to insulate 90 percent of American homes and all new buildings;
You may be right, but suspicions about the oil companies cannot change the fact that we are running out of petroleum. The seventh principle is that prices should generally reflect the true replacement cost of energy. To some degree, the sacrifices will be painfulbut so is any meaningful sacrifice. One such lesson is don't count conventional energy out. Working together with our common faith we cannot fail. It causes unemployment. 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. This incentive for new oil production would be the highest in the whole world. Those citizens who insist on driving large, unnecessarily powerful cars must expect to pay more for that luxury. When President Jimmy Carter addressed the nation on April 18, 1977, the U.S. was in a crisis. 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. It's always been easier to wait until the next year or the next term of office, to avoid political risk. "Mr. President," he said, "I don't feel much like talking about energy and foreign policy. We are only Cheating ourselves if we make energy artificially cheap and use more than we can really afford. Conservation helps us solve both problems at once. 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. We will have to have a crash program to build more nuclear plants, strip mine and bum more coal, and drill more offshore wells than if we begin to conserve right now. Along with that money that we transport overseas, we will continue losing American jobs and become increasingly vulnerable to supply interruptions. We can delay insulating our homes, and they will continue to lose about 50 percent of their heat in waste. Six years ago, we paid $3.7 billion for imported oil. This difficult effort will be the "moral equivalent of war," except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not to destroy. 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). American wisdom and courage right now can set a path to follow in the future. 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. I said 6 months ago that no one would be completely satisfied with this National Energy Plan. 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. The most important thing about these proposals is that the alternative may be a national catastrophe. What is being measured is the strength and will of our Nationwhether we can acknowledge a threat and meet a serious challenge together. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. It will demand that we make sacrifices and changes in every life. We've also proposed, and the Congress is reviewing, incentives to encourage production of oil and gas here in our own country. These changes did not happen overnight. For them to pass an effective and fair plan, they will need your support and your understandingyour support to resist pressures from a few for special favors at the expense of the rest of us and your understanding that there can be no effective plan without some sacrifice from all of us. Will Obama and his ilk learn the lessons of history? We should reward individuals and companies who discover and produce new oil and gas, but we must not give them huge windfall profits on their existing wells at the expense of the American people. 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. 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. But just as we are losing our confidence in the future, we are also beginning to close the door on our past. But, unfortunately, there are still some who seek personal gain over the national interest. If this trend continues, the excessive reliance on foreign oil could make the very security of our Nation increasingly dependent on uncertain energy supplies. This is a special night for me. The second principle is that healthy economic growth must continue. First, it's fair both to the American consumers and to the energy producers, and it will not disrupt our national economy. 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 change became the basis of the Industrial Revolution. Our Nation must be fair to the poorest among us, so we will increase aid to needy Americans to cope with rising energy prices. Tonight I want to examine in a broad sense the state of our American Union--how we are building a new foundation for a peaceful and a prosperous world. Versace is shot twice in the head, and Cunanan flees the scene. Many of these proposals will be unpopular. The second change took. These are facts and we simply must face them: What I have to say to you now about energy is simple and vitally important. 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. Both consumers and producers need policies they can count on so they can plan ahead. Although journalists and historians say the address ultimately undermined his presidency, the Democratic candidates vying to challenge President Trump in 2020 have much to learn from Carter's . Our nation's 39 th president, Jimmy Carter, is currently in hospice care. 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. 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. Now, I know that some of you may doubt that we face real energy shortages. "We can't go on consuming 40 percent more energy than we produce. to establish a strategic petroleum reserve of one billion barrels, more than a 6-months supply;
But if we wait, we will constantly live in fear of embargoes. World oil production can probably keep going up for another 6 or 8 years. One of the visitors to Camp David last week put it this way: "We've got to stop crying and start sweating, stop talking and start walking, stop cursing and start praying. 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. They are the ones that we must provide for now. 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. With God's help and for the sake of our Nation, it is time for us to join hands in America. Jimmy Carter, "Address to the Nation on Energy and National Goals: 'The Malaise Speech,'" July 15, 1979. 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. Naval Academy, he served in the submarine corps just after World War II. But you did not choose your elected officials simply to fill an office. We have the ability to administer the new energy legislation, and congressional work on the National Energy Plan has now reached the final stage. And this year we may spend $45 billion. Each American uses the energy equivalent of 60 barrels of oil per person each year. place in this century, with the growing use of oil and natural gas. Presidential Speeches | Jimmy Carter Presidency In closing, let me say this: I will do my best, but I will not do it alone. We are only cheating ourselves if we make energy artificially cheap and use more than we can really afford. The cost will keep going up. 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. The world has not prepared for the future. Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. I believe that this can be a positive challenge. They made possible the age of automobile and airplane travel. There should be only one test for this program--whether it will help our country. Thereafter, I was so dismayed by his presidency that I betrayed my natal Democratic Party and voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980. We can protect ourselves from uncertain supplies by reducing our demand for oil, by making the most of our abundant resources such as coal, and by developing a strategic petroleum reserve. 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 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. 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. In this speech, Carter recognizes that Americans have lost faith in government, in part because of the energy crisis. All Rights Reserved. This is where another major controversy arises. Jimmy Carter: "Solar Photovoltaic Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1978 Statement on Signing H.R. 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. And it will get worse every day until we act. No one will gain an unfair advantage through this plan. The world now uses about 60 million barrels of oil a day, and demand increases each year about 5 percent. Carter ended by asking for input from average citizens to help him devise an energy agenda for the 1980s. I can't tell you that these measures will be easy, nor will they be popular. 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. Jimmy Carter was born on October 1, 1924, in the farming community of Plains, Georgia. We've always been proud of our ingenuity, our skill at answering questions. This is the direct cause of the long lines which have made millions of you spend aggravating hours waiting for gasoline. Nearly everyone who is alive today grew up during this period, and we have never known anything different. Intense competition for oil will build up among nations and also among the different regions within our own country. ", And this from a young Chicano: "Some of us have suffered from recession all our lives. Our national energy plan is based on 10 fundamental principles. This will not be the last time that I, as President, present difficult and controversial choices to you and ask for your help. Further delay can affect our strength and our power as a nation. 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. Down that road lies a mistaken idea of freedom, the right to grasp for ourselves some advantage over others. 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. Each new inventory of world oil reserves has been more disturbing than the last. to reduce gasoline consumption by 10 percent below its. Many of these proposals will be unpopular. In it, Carter singled out a pervasive "crisis of confidence" preventing the American people from moving the country forward. 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. View Transcript. The fifth principle is that we must be fair. 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. 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. This summer we used more oil and gasoline than ever before in our history. 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. One of the most enduring aspects of Jimmy Carter's presidency is his green legacy he embraced environmental stewardship and renewable energy with an . We must face an unpleasant fact about energy prices. We were sure that ours was a nation of the ballot, not the bullet, until the murders of John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. We were taught that our armies were always invincible and our causes were always just, only to suffer the agony of Vietnam. You see a Congress twisted and pulled in every direction by hundreds of well-financed and powerful special interests. But sometime in the 1980's, it can't go up any more. Conservation is the quickest, cheapest, most practical source of energy. Tonight I want to have an unpleasant talk with you about a problem that is unprecedented in our history. The second change took. It hurts every American family. This is an effort which requires vision and cooperation from all Americans. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. This plan is essential to protect our jobs, our environment, our standard of living, and our future. Nearly everyone who is alive today grew up during this period, and we have never known anything different. So, I want to speak to you first tonight about a subject even more serious than energy or inflation. I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy. These are serious problems, and this has been a serious talk. 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. 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. To further conserve energy, I'm proposing tonight an extra $10 billion over the next decade to strengthen our public transportation systems. There, in the next few weeks, the strength and courage of our political system will be proven. He had earned it. Previous. ", "Some of your Cabinet members don't seem loyal. Jimmy Carter, "Address to the Nation on Energy," April 18, 1977. 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. President Jimmy Carter - Address to the Nation on Energy - YouTube 0:00 / 4:35 President Jimmy Carter - Address to the Nation on Energy MCamericanpresident 10.4K subscribers Subscribe 830. 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. Unfortunately, that prediction has turned out to be right. Iran hostage crisis These are all controversial questions, and the congressional debates, as you can well imagine, are intense. 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. We will have to have a crash program to build more nuclear plants, strip mine and bum more coal, and drill more offshore wells than if we begin to conserve right now. A graduate of the U.S. ", "Some people have wasted energy, but others haven't had anything to waste. ", "There will be other cartels and other shortages. Inflation will soar; production will go down; people will lose their jobs. Confidence has defined our course and has served as a link between generations. For the fifth time I would have described the urgency of the problem and laid out a series of legislative recommendations to the Congress. A President is elected for just 4 years, a Senator for 6, and our Representatives in Congress for only 2 years. World consumption of oil is still going up. 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 kind of summarized a lot of other statements: "Mr. President, we are confronted with a moral and a spiritual crisis.". This energy plan is a good insurance policyfor the future, in which relatively small premiums that we pay today will protect us in the years ahead. This excessive importing of foreign oil is a tremendous and rapidly increasing drain on our national economy. That path would be one of constant conflict between narrow interests ending in chaos and immobility. Conservation is the quickest, cheapest, most practical source of energy. The sixth principle, and the cornerstone of our policy, is to reduce demand through conservation. Note: The President spoke at 8 p.m. from the Oval Office at the White House. 12874 Into Law," November 4, 1978. Download media. We ourselves are the same Americans who just 10 years ago put a man on the Moon. 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. Restoring that faith and that confidence to America is now the most important task we face. Now we have a choice. The world has not prepared for the future. But we do have a choice about how we will spend the next few years. The most important thing about these proposals is that the alternative may be a national catastrophe. We will monitor our progress toward these goals year by year. It is worldwide. It gives us more freedom, more confidence, that much more control over our own lives. Demand will overtake production. Never speak ill of the dead, the old saying goes, but Jimmy Carter, 98, still lives. to reduce the annual growth rate in our energy demand to less than 2 percent;
One is a path I've warned about tonight, the path that leads to fragmentation and self-interest. --to use solar energy in more than 2 1/2 million houses. Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this Nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally.