What you see too often in Washington and elsewhere around the country is a system of government that seems incapable of action. His remarks were broadcast live on radio and television. First, it's fair both to the American consumers and to the energy producers, and it will not disrupt our national economy. Point five: To make absolutely certain that nothing stands in the way of achieving these goals, I will urge Congress to create an energy mobilization board which, like the War Production Board in World War II, will have the responsibility and authority to cut through the red tape, the delays, and the endless roadblocks to completing key energy projects. On July 15, 1979, President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation via live television to discuss the nation's energy crisis and accompanying recession. 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. I believe that this can be a positive challenge. You know we can do it. The fourth principle is that we must reduce our vulnerability to potentially devastating embargoes. We can begin to prepare right now. Tonight, at this crucial time, I want to emphasize why it is so important that we have an energy plan and what we will risk, as a nation, if we are timid or reluctant to face this challenge. But a common national sacrifice to meet this serious problem should be shared by everyone-some proof that the plan is fair. Within 10 years, we would not be able to import enough oil from any country, at any acceptable price. This change became the basis of the Industrial Revolution. I ask Congress to give me authority for mandatory conservation and for standby gasoline rationing. But our energy problem is worse tonight than it was in 1973 or a few weeks ago in the dead of winter. I will be working closely with them. We can continue using scarce oil and natural gas to generate electricity and continue wasting two-thirds of their fuel value in the process. Naval Academy, he served in the submarine corps just after World War II. Six years ago, we paid $3.7 billion for imported oil. No one will gain an unfair advantage through this plan. 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. We can take the first steps down that path as we begin to solve our energy problem. I have faith that meeting this challenge will make our own lives even richer. 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. 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. ", "You don't see the people enough any more. Carter also addresses his ideas to improve the economy and reduce the size of government. The second principle is that healthy economic growth must continue. 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. These wounds are still very deep. We believed that our Nation's resources were limitless until 1973, when we had to face a growing dependence on foreign oil. Carter ended by asking for input from average citizens to help him devise an energy agenda for the 1980s. The oil and natural gas that we rely on for 75 percent of our energy are simply running out. Along with that money that we transport overseas, we will continue losing American jobs and become increasingly vulnerable to supply interruptions. But we do have a choice about how we will spend the next few years. Our national security depends on more than just our Armed Forces; it also rests on the strength of our economy, on our national will, and on the ability of the United States to carry out our foreign policy as a free and independent nation. 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 causes unemployment. World oil production can probably keep going up for another 6 or 8 years. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. ", "Some people have wasted energy, but others haven't had anything to waste. ", And this is one of the most vivid statements: "Our neck is stretched over the fence and OPEC has a knife. Conservation helps us solve both problems at once. Carter was unable to solve most of the problems plaguing the country during his administration, including an ailing economy and a continuing energy crisis. In it, Carter singled out a pervasive "crisis of confidence" preventing the American people from moving the country forward. I can't tell you that these measures will be easy, nor will they be popular. You may be right, but suspicions about the oil companies cannot change the fact that we are running out of petroleum. 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 Arab oil embargo of 1973 sent energy prices soaring, and four years later, the impacts were still rippling through the economy. They made possible the age of automobile and airplane travel. Democrat Jimmy Carter served as president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. But just as we are losing our confidence in the future, we are also beginning to close the door on our past. If they succeed with this approach, then the burden on the ordinary citizen, who is not organized into an interest group, would be crushing. I do not promise you that this struggle for freedom will be easy. No one will be asked to bear an unfair burden. One choice, of course, is to continue doing what we've been doing before. We've always been proud of our vision of the future. The energy crisis is real. ", And the last that I'll read: "When we enter the moral equivalent of war, Mr. President, don't issue us BB guns.". Inflation will soar; production will go down; people will lose their jobs. Little by little we can and we must rebuild our confidence. This plan is essential to protect our jobs, our environment, our standard of living, and our future. We will act together. Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this Nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally. So, the solution of our energy crisis can also help us to conquer the crisis of the spirit in our country. We can manage the short-term shortages more effectively and we will, but there are no short-term solutions to our long-range problems. We are strong. He had earned it. It's always been easier to wait until the next year or the next term of office, to avoid political risk. These were the promises I made 3 years ago, and I intend to keep them. But the sacrifices can be gradual, realistic, and they are necessary. Another very important question before Congress is how to let the market price for domestic oil go up to reflect the cost of replacing it while, at the same time, protecting the American consumers and our own economy. I said 6 months ago that no one would be completely satisfied with this National Energy Plan. Seated behind his ornate desk in the Oval Office and wearing a sober pinstriped suit, he offered a litany of dark predictions: View Transcript. On July 15, 1979, amid stagnant economic growth, high inflation, and an energy crisis, Jimmy Carter delivered a televised address to the American people. He outlined a plan to tackle the crisis . 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. The ninth principle is that we must conserve the fuels that are scarcest and make the most of those that are plentiful. Industry will have to do its part to conserve just as consumers will. We have more oil in our shale alone than several Saudi Arabias. current level; President Jimmy Carter delivered this speech on July 15, 1979, exactly three years after accepting the nomination of the Democratic Party to run for president. We've always been proud of our ingenuity, our skill at answering questions. We need to shift to plentiful coal, while taking care to protect the environment, and to apply stricter safety standards to nuclear energy. I know that many of you have suspected that some supplies of oil and gas are being withheld from the market. Unfortunately, that prediction has turned out to be right. A graduate of the U.S. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. We simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern ourselves, and faith in the future of this Nation. Our Nation's economic and political independence is becoming increasingly vulnerable. ", This was a good one: "Be bold, Mr. President. 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. Our nation's 39 th president, Jimmy Carter, is currently in hospice care. Along with that money that we transport overseas, we will continue losing American jobs and become increasingly vulnerable to supply interruptions. The seventh principle is that prices should generally reflect the true replacement cost of energy. By acting now we can control our future instead of letting the future control us. One of the most enduring aspects of Jimmy Carter's presidency is his green legacy he embraced environmental stewardship and renewable energy with an . 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. This summer we used more oil and gasoline than ever before in our history. President Jimmy Carter asks Americans to sacrifice for the sake of greater energy conservation and independence. Our progress has been part of the living history of America, even the world. Those citizens who insist on driving large, unnecessarily powerful cars must expect to pay more for that luxury. producers deserve fair treatment, but we will not let the oil companies profiteer. The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. Unlike the billions of dollars that we ship to foreign countries to pay for foreign oil, these funds will be paid by Americans to Americans. 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. Unless we act, we will spend more than $550 billion for imported oil by 1985more than $2,500 for every man, woman, and child in America. 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. There are two paths to choose. It is a crisis of confidence. Our solutions must ask equal sacrifices from every region, every class of people, and every interest group. Jimmy Carter November 08, 1977 Source National Archives 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. Born as a side project apart from Odeos main podcasting platform, the free application allowed users read more, The unmanned spacecraft Mariner 4 passes over Mars at an altitude of 6,000 feet and sends back to Earth the first close-up images of the red planet. 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 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. Conservation is the only way that we can buy a barrel of oil for about $2. 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 can delay insulating our homes, and they will continue to lose about 50 percent of their heat in waste. 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. But the sacrifices can be gradual, realistic, and they are necessary. On July 15, 1979, President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation via live television to discuss the nations energy crisis and accompanying recession. The American Presidency Project (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=7369). ; Carter went on to serve in the US Navy and was sworn in as president in 1977. Note: The President spoke at 10 p.m. from the Oval Office at the White House. During the 1950's, people used twice as much oil as during the 1940's. We must look back into history to understand our energy problem. 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. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search . Carter quoted one of the Camp David meeting participants as saying that Americas neck is stretched over the fence and OPEC has a knife. In addition, inflation had reached an all-time high during Carters term. 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 in each of those decades, more oil was consumed than in all of man's previous history combined. This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning. 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. 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 . 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 can begin to prepare right now. They made possible the age of automobile and airplane travel. Meanwhile, although we have large petroleum supplies of our own and most of them don't, we in the United States have increased our imports more than 40 percent. 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."