On July 15, 1979, President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation via live television to discuss the nations energy crisis and accompanying recession. This is not a contest of strength between the President and the Congress, nor between the House and the Senate. We believed that our Nation's resources were limitless until 1973, when we had to face a growing dependence on foreign oil. 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. 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. 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. Carter was unable to solve most of the problems plaguing the country during his administration, including an ailing economy and a continuing energy crisis. But our energy plan also reflects the optimism that I feel about our ability to deal with these problems. It's crucial that you understand how serious this challenge is. "We can't go on consuming 40 percent more energy than we produce. The second principle is that healthy economic growth must continue. I believe that this can be a positive challenge. Every $5 billion increase in oil imports costs us 200,000 American jobs. 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. READ MORE: Jimmy Carter: His Life and Legacy, Jimmy Carter speaks about a national crisis in confidence, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jimmy-carter-speaks-about-a-national-crisis-in-confidence. To jumpstart this program, Carter asked Congress to form an energy mobilization board modeled after the War Production Board of World War II, and asked the legislature to enact a windfall profits tax immediately to fight inflation and unemployment. This is one reason that I'm working with the Congress to create a new Department of Energy to replace more than 50 different agencies that now have some control over energy. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. But our energy problem is worse tonight than it was in 1973 or a few weeks ago in the dead of winter. 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. 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. 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. Former President Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.), was the 39 th president of the United States, serving from 1977-1981. ", And this from a religious leader: "No material shortage can touch the important things like God's love for us or our love for one another. 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. We can manage the short-term shortages more effectively and we will, but there are no short-term solutions to our long-range problems. As a people we know our past and we are proud of it. Just since April, our oil imports have cost us $23 billionabout $350 worth of foreign oil for the average American family. We may make mistakes, but we are ready to experiment. Our solutions must ask equal sacrifices from every region, every class of people, and every interest group. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our Nation. On July 15, 1979, President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation via live television to discuss the nation's energy crisis and accompanying recession. 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. These quotas will ensure a reduction in imports even below the ambitious levels we set at the recent Tokyo summit. We've also proposed, and the Congress is reviewing, incentives to encourage production of oil and gas here in our own country. Copyright 2023. ", This was a good one: "Be bold, Mr. President. If we fail to act soon, we will face an economic, social, and political crisis that will threaten our free institutions. Our biggest problem, however, is that we simply use too much and waste too much energy. 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. It is the idea which founded our Nation and has guided our development as a people. Although the energy crisis and recession were the main topics of conversation, Carter heard from the attendees that Americans were also suffering from a deeper moral and spiritual crisis. I'll read just a few. They are the ones that we must provide for now. This difficult effort will be the "moral equivalent of war," except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not to destroy. 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. If this trend continues, the excessive reliance on foreign oil could make the very security of our Nation increasingly dependent on uncertain energy supplies. Last year we spent $36 billion for imported oil--nearly 10 times as much. Address to the nation on the War in Vietnam / Richard Nixon -- Remarks on taking the oath of office / Gerald R. Ford -- Energy and national goals : address to the nation / Jimmy Carter -- v. 5. The seventh principle is that prices should generally reflect the true replacement cost of energy. A huge box-office hit, the film established Willis as a movie star and spawned three sequels. 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. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency . I promised you a President who is not isolated from the people, who feels your pain, and who shares your dreams and who draws his strength and his wisdom from you. 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. From now on, every new addition to our demand for energy will be met from our own production and our own conservation. In the days to come, let us renew that strength in the struggle for an energy secure nation. Now we need efficiency and ingenuity more than ever. And in each of those decades, more oil was consumed than in all of man's previous history combined. ", "Mr. President, we're in trouble. That's why I've worked hard to put my campaign promises into law--and I have to admit, with just mixed success. It will demand that we make sacrifices and changes in every life. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Naval Academy, he served in the submarine corps just after World War II. 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. This writer voted for Carter in 1976. 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 . They want lower taxes on their profits. 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. You see a Congress twisted and pulled in every direction by hundreds of well-financed and powerful special interests. We could endanger our freedom as a sovereign nation to act in foreign affairs. Two-thirds of our people do not even vote. 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). Carter address's the crisis of confidence in America, but tells Americans to first begin addressing problems by addressing the energy crisis within their home. When we import oil we are also importing inflation plus unemployment. These funds will go to fight, not to increase, inflation and unemployment. Carter retreated to Camp David, where he met with Americans from various backgrounds and spoke . 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. Whenever you have a chance, say something good about our country. The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America. And this year we may spend $45 billion. Each American uses the energy equivalent of 60 barrels of oil per person each year. ", And this from a young Chicano: "Some of us have suffered from recession all our lives. 4. We need to shift to plentiful coal, while taking care to protect the environment, and to apply stricter safety standards to nuclear energy. Good evening. We know the strength of America. Above all, they will be fair. to use solar energy in more than 2 1/2 million houses. producers deserve fair treatment, but we will not let the oil companies profiteer. 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. This from a young woman in Pennsylvania: "I feel so far from government. National Energy Plan: Address to the Nation. Now the energy proposal that I made to Congress last April has three basic elements to ensure that it is well balanced. Tonight I want to have an unpleasant talk with you about a problem that is unprecedented in our history. Our energy problems have the same cause as our environmental problems-wasteful use of resources. AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Jimmy Carter, the only Georgian to serve as president, was born in Plains on Oct. 1, 1924, to Earl Carter, a farmer and businessman, and Lillian Carter, a. Gradually, you've heard more and more about what the Government thinks or what the Government should be doing and less and less about our Nation's hopes, our dreams, and our vision of the future. No one will be asked to bear an unfair burden. I know that many of you have suspected that some supplies of oil and gas are being withheld from the market. This is one reason that I'm working with the Congress to create a new Department of Energy to replace more than 50 different agencies that now have some control over energy. All the traditions of our past, all the lessons of our heritage, all the promises of our future point to another path, the path of common purpose and the restoration of American values. First of all, we must face the truth, and then we can change our course. Working together with our common faith we cannot fail. April 18, 1977: Address to the Nation on Energy. It's a cause of the increased inflation and unemployment that we now face. This incentive for new oil production would be the highest in the whole world. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. It is a clear and present danger to our Nation. But sometime in the 1980's, it can't go up any more. They are going up, whether we pass an energy program or not, as fuel becomes more scarce and more expensive to produce. I have seen the strength of America in the inexhaustible resources of our people. Will Obama and his ilk learn the lessons of history? Note: The President spoke at 8 p.m. from the Oval Office at the White House. ", "There will be other cartels and other shortages. Our progress has been part of the living history of America, even the world. And it will get worse every day until we act. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. We can drift along for a few more years. He outlined a plan to tackle the crisis . With the exception of preventing war, this is the greatest challenge that our country will face during our lifetime. 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. This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning. Ten days ago I had planned to speak to you again about a very important subject--energy. To further conserve energy, I'm proposing tonight an extra $10 billion over the next decade to strengthen our public transportation systems. 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? The sixth principle, and the cornerstone of our policy, is to reduce demand through conservation. We can't continue to use oil and gas for 75 percent of our consumption, as we do now, when they only make up 7 percent of our domestic reserves. 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. Within 10 years, we would not be able to import enough oil from any country, at any acceptable price. They are the ones who will suffer most if we don't act. But a common national sacrifice to meet this serious problem should be shared by everyone-some proof that the plan is fair. 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). By acting now we can control our future instead of letting the future control us. . The Secretary of Defense said recently, "The present deficiency of assured energy sources is the single surest threat to our security and to that of our allies." place in this century, with the growing use of oil and natural gas. I'm announcing tonight that for 1979 and 1980, I will forbid the entry into this country of one drop of foreign oil more than these goals allow. We ourselves are the same Americans who just 10 years ago put a man on the Moon. 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. Industry will have to do its part to conserve just as consumers will. current level; Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States. The message was usually focused on energy conservation. The world has not prepared for the future. We waste more energy than we import. I believe that this can be a positive challenge. It's worse because more waste has occurred and more time has passed by without our planning for the future. 4 min read. The statement marked a dramatic turning point in U.S.-China relations, as well as a major shift in American foreign policy. We must look back into history to understand our energy problem. This from a southern Governor: "Mr. President, you are not leading this Nation you're just managing the Government. Our solutions must ask equal sacrifices from every region, every class of people, and every interest group. This will not be the last time that I, as President, present difficult and controversial choices to you and ask for your help. Our energy plan captures and returns them to the public, where they can stimulate the economy, save more energy, and create new jobs. The Arab oil embargo of 1973 sent energy prices soaring, and four years later, the impacts were still rippling through the economy. Many groups have risen to the challenge. One choice, of course, is to continue doing what we've been doing before. Tonight I want to have an unpleasant talk with you about a problem that is unprecedented in our history. They made possible the age of automobile and airplane travel. Our energy plan will also include a number of specific goals to measure our progress toward a stable energy system. We are the heirs of generations who survived threats much more powerful and awesome than those that challenge us now. 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. The world now uses about 60 million barrels of oil a day, and demand increases each year about 5 percent. The Arab oil embargo of 1973 sent energy prices soaring, and four years later, the impacts were still rippling through the economy. A graduate of the U.S. This button displays the currently selected search type. 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. We will feel mounting pressure to plunder the environment. They are the ones who will suffer most if we don't act. They were more convenient and cheaper than coal, and the supply seemed to be almost without limit. During the 1960's, we used twice as much as during the 1950's. Thank you very much. In it, Carter singled out a pervasive "crisis of confidence" preventing the American people from moving the country forward. 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. Unless we act quickly, imports will continue to go up, and all the problems that I've just described will grow even worse. Surprising viewers, who were expecting a laundry list of proposals to deal with the energy crisis, Carter took a different tack.