As president, Jimmy Carter advised Americans to set their thermostats to 55 degrees overnight during the winter months to "waste less energy," offering his guidance in a televised address to the nation on February 2, 1977, in the midst of a national natural gas shortage. President Carter delivered this speech on the energy crisis in 1977. Our progress has been part of the living history of America, even the world. This year, primarily because of oil, our imports will be at least $25 billion more than all the American goods the we sell overseas. Jimmy Carter, "Address to the Nation on Energy and National Goals: 'The Malaise Speech,'" July 15, 1979. 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. On January 14, 1981, President Jimmy Carter delivered a farewell address to the nation, thanking his staff and the American people for the opportunity to serve, warning about the continuing threat . Other generations of Americans have faced and mastered great challenges. 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. Both consumers and producers need policies they can count on so they can plan ahead. We may make mistakes, but we are ready to experiment. And in each of those decades, more oil was consumed than in all of man's previous history combined. These are the goals that we set for 1985:
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. It's always been easier to wait until the next year or the next term of office, to avoid political risk. The Arab oil embargo of 1973 sent energy prices soaring, and four years later, the impacts were still rippling through the economy. With about the same standard of living, we use twice as much energy per person as do other countries like Germany, Japan, and Sweden. 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. Jimmy Carter, "Address to the Nation on Energy," April 18, 1977 (excerpts). We can take the first steps down that path as we begin to solve our energy problem. Good evening. This effort will permit you to build conservation into your homes and your lives at a cost you can afford. The world now uses about 60 million barrels of oil a day, and demand increases each year about 5 percent. Let me try to describe the size and the effect of the problem. World oil production can probably keep going up for another 6 or 8 years. ", Many people talked about themselves and about the condition of our Nation. Confidence has defined our course and has served as a link between generations. Remarks to the students and faculty at Moscow State University / Ronald Reagan -- Remarks to the residents of Leiden / George Bush -- v. 6. First, it's fair both to the American consumers and to the energy producers, and it will not disrupt our national economy. Intense competition for oil will build up among nations and also among the different regions within our own country. Industry will have to do its part to conserve just as consumers will. We've always wanted to give our children and our grandchildren a world richer in possibilities than we have had ourselves. They are going up, whether we pass an energy program or not, as fuel becomes more scarce and more expensive to produce. I will listen and I will act. There is some part of this complex legislation to which every region and every interest group can object. On July 15, 1979, amid stagnant economic growth, high inflation, and an energy crisis, Jimmy Carter delivered a televised address to the American people. We can be sure that all the special interest groups in the country will attack the part of this plan that affects them directly. 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. Restoring that faith and that confidence to America is now the most important task we face. 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. We will monitor our progress toward these goals year by year. The strength we need will not come from the White House, but from every house in America.". We've always been proud, through our history, of being efficient people. 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. That path leads to true freedom for our Nation and ourselves. Many of these proposals will be unpopular. This plan is essential to protect our jobs, our environment, our standard of living, and our future. We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources. Six years ago, we paid $3.7 billion for imported oil. 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. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. During the next few weeks, attention will be focused on the Congress, but the proving of our courage and commitment will continue, in different forms and places, in the months and the years, even generations ahead. The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us. Why have we not been able to get together as a nation to resolve our serious energy problem? Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States. 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. Imports have doubled in the last 5 years. That's why I've worked hard to put my campaign promises into law--and I have to admit, with just mixed success. It costs us business investments. When we import oil we are also importing inflation plus unemployment. Last year we spent $36 billion for imported oil--nearly 10 times as much. We can begin to prepare right now. 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. Each American uses the energy equivalent of 60 barrels of oil per person each year. He also pledged a massive commitment of funds and resources to develop alternative fuel sources including coal, plant products and solar power. 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. Our Nation's economic and political independence is becoming increasingly vulnerable. that it be. to use solar energy in more than 2 1/2 million houses. The president was scheduled to deliver a speech on July 4 but canceled at the last minute. 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. These are facts and we simply must face them: What I have to say to you now about energy is simple and vitally important. First of all, we must face the truth, and then we can change our course. It is a certain route to failure. ", 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. All Rights Reserved. There is something especially American in the kinds of changes that we have to make. ", This kind of summarized a lot of other statements: "Mr. President, we are confronted with a moral and a spiritual crisis.". An effective conservation program will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. to reduce the annual growth rate in our energy demand to less than 2 percent;
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. The people are looking for honest answers, not easy answers; clear leadership, not false claims and evasiveness and politics as usual. 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. Talk to us about blood and sweat and tears. These efforts will cost money, a lot of money, and that is why Congress must enact the windfall profits tax without delay. 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. I do not promise you that this struggle for freedom will be easy. 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. The Middle East has only 5 percent of the world's energy, but the United States has 24 percent. 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 eighth principle is that Government policies must be predictable and certain. It costs about $13 to waste it. During the 1950's, people used twice as much oil as during the 1940's. But the sacrifices can be gradual, realistic, and they are necessary. 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. Two-thirds of our people do not even vote. Confidence in the future has supported everything else--public institutions and private enterprise, our own families, and the very Constitution of the United States. 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). But I'm confident that we can find the wisdom and the courage to make the right decisionseven when they are unpleasantso that we might, together, preserve the greatness of our Nation. We've always wanted to give our children and our grandchildren a world richer in possibilities than we have had ourselves. 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. The car, produced at Fords plant on Mack Street (now Mack Avenue) in Detroit, was delivered to read more, On July 15, 1789, only one day after the fall of the Bastille marked the beginning of a new revolutionary regime in France, the French aristocrat and hero of the American War for Independence, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, becomes the read more. The former . Dubbed the Second Battle of the Marne, the conflict ended several days later in a major victory for the Allies. After a 2015 cancer diagnosis . So, I want to speak to you first tonight about a subject even more serious than energy or inflation. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Many of these proposals will be unpopular. The Congress is facing very difficult decisions, courageously, and we've formed a good partnership. ", "Mr. President, we're in trouble. These quotas will ensure a reduction in imports even below the ambitious levels we set at the recent Tokyo summit. To further conserve energy, I'm proposing tonight an extra $10 billion over the next decade to strengthen our public transportation systems. We will protect our environment. President Jimmy Carter (b. Some will cause you to put up with inconveniences and to make sacrifices. ", And this one from a labor leader got to the heart of it: "The real issue is freedom. We can't substantially increase our domestic production, so we would need to import twice as much oil as we do now. 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
Carter, who after the presidency would teach Sunday School, tried to rally the public to have faith in the future of America.
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