Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, April 18, 1977: Address to the Nation on Energy, Notice of Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity, Miller Center: April 18, 1977: Address to the Nation on Energy, March 9, 1977: Remarks at President Carter's Press Conference, May 22, 1977: University of Notre Dame Commencement, September 7, 1977: Statement on the Panama Canal Treaty Signing, November 8, 1977: Address to the Nation on Energy, 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. National Energy Plan: Address to the Nation. | The American Presidency Jimmy Carter, Address to the Nation on Energy, Transcript, Miller Center at University of Virginia, April 18, . 12874 Into Law," November 4, 1978. The political pressures are great because the stakes are so high, billions and billions of dollars. ", "Some people have wasted energy, but others haven't had anything to waste. You know we can do it. Confidence in the future has supported everything else--public institutions and private enterprise, our own families, and the very Constitution of the United States. The first was about 200 years ago, when we changed away from wood--which had provided about 90 percent of all fuel--to coal, which was much more efficient. The energy. Restoring that faith and that confidence to America is now the most important task we face. Will Obama and his ilk learn the lessons of history? We can begin to prepare right now. Conservation helps us solve both problems at once. Three-quarters of them would carry only one personthe driverwhile our public transportation system continues to decline. 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. Many of these proposals will be unpopular. 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. Conservation is the quickest, cheapest, most practical source of energy. Carter then launched into his energy policy plans, which included the implementation of mandatory conservation efforts for individuals and businesses and deep cuts in the nations dependence on foreign oil through import quotas. 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. Our cars would continue to be too large and inefficient. We will monitor our progress toward these goals year by year. I believe that this country can meet any challenge, but this is an exceptionally difficult one because the threat is not easy to see and the solution is neither simple nor politically popular. 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. This is the direct cause of the long lines which have made millions of you spend aggravating hours waiting for gasoline. 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. 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. 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. They made possible the age of automobile and airplane travel. By acting now we can control our future instead of letting the future control us. In fact, it is the most painless and immediate way of rebuilding our Nation's strength. 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 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 ninth principle is that we must conserve the fuels that are scarcest and make the most of those that are plentiful. The choices facing the Members of Congress are not easy. 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. We can drift along for a few more years. Each new inventory of world oil reserves has been more disturbing than the last. How does Carter link the energy crisis to a crisis of the American spirit? This is an effort which requires vision and cooperation from all Americans. World consumption of oil is still going up. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. Tonight I want to have an unpleasant talk with you about a problem that is unprecedented in our history. Intense competition for oil will build up among nations and also among the different regions within our own country. You may be right, but suspicions about the oil companies cannot change the fact that we are running out of petroleum. They were more convenient and cheaper than coal, and the supply seemed to be almost without limit. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search . 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? And you are also deeply involved in these decisions. Jimmy Carter, "Address to the Nation on Energy," April 18, 1977 (excerpts). The second change took. The Arab oil embargo of 1973 sent energy prices soaring, and four years later, the impacts were still rippling through the economy. The oil and natural gas that we rely on for 75 percent of our energy are simply running out. Further delay can affect our strength and our power as a nation. 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. His remarks were broadcast live on radio and television. This has already started. If they succeed with this approach, then the burden on the ordinary citizen, who is not organized into an interest group, would be crushing. We've learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose. I can't tell you that these measures will be easy, nor will they be popular. 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. Well, I understand how he felt, but I must tell you the truth. They are the ones who will suffer most if we don't act. But our energy problem is worse tonight than it was in 1973 or a few weeks ago in the dead of winter. Center on Global Energy Policy on LinkedIn: Q&A | The Geopolitics The sixth principle, and the cornerstone of our policy, is to reduce demand through conservation. Download media. For the fifth time I would have described the urgency of the problem and laid out a series of legislative recommendations to the Congress. 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 must face an unpleasant fact about energy prices. For Jimmy Carter, protecting environment has been an "exhilarating The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us. Although all countries could, of course, be more efficient, we are the worst offender. To further conserve energy, I'm proposing tonight an extra $10 billion over the next decade to strengthen our public transportation systems. 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." They are going up, whether we pass an energy program or not, as fuel becomes more scarce and more expensive to produce. Primary Source: Jimmy Carter, "Crisis of Confidence" (1979) They want even higher prices than those we've proposed for "new" gas and oil, and they want the higher prices sooner. There are two paths to choose. Point two: To ensure that we meet these targets, I will use my Presidential authority to set import quotas. 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. The third principle is that we must protect the environment. And I'm asking you for your good and for your Nation's security to take no unnecessary trips, to use carpools or public transportation whenever you can, to park your car one extra day per week, to obey the speed limit, and to set your thermostats to save fuel. Looking for a way out of this crisis, our people have turned to the Federal Government and found it isolated from the mainstream of our Nation's life. to insulate 90 percent of American homes and all new buildings; Never speak ill of the dead, the old saying goes, but Jimmy Carter, 98, still lives. 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. I know that many of you have suspected that some supplies of oil and gas are being withheld from the market. The eighth principle is that Government policies must be predictable and certain. It hurts every American family. By acting now we can control our future instead of letting the future control us. 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. In this speech, Carter recognizes that Americans have lost faith in government, in part because of the energy crisis. It feeds serious inflationary pressures in our own economy. Thank you very much, and good night. Above all, they will be fair. New oil prices would also rise in 3 years to the present world level and then be increased annually to keep up with inflation. We must not be selfish or timid if we hope to have a decent world for our children and our grandchildren. Let me try to describe the size and the effect of the problem. Selected Speeches of Jimmy Carter We believed that our Nation's resources were limitless until 1973, when we had to face a growing dependence on foreign oil.