President Jimmy Carter's Moral Equivalent of War Speech
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President Jimmy Carter's Moral Equivalent of War Speech was a speech in which United States President
Jimmy Carter
addressed the United States on April 17, 1977.
It is notable because he compared the energy crisis
with the "moral equivalent of war" and clenched his fist for dramatic effect.
Carter called for a 10 point plan. He asked people to cut oil imports to half by 1985, but oil imports doubled in the next 20 years instead. He said people who insist on driving large cars should be forced to pay more. He said people should turn down their thermostat to 65 degrees, except at night when it should be 55 degrees.
A transcription of the speech is available at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/filmmore/ps_energy.html and can be watched on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tPePpMxJaA
The phrase became so notable, it was referenced in literature and even used as the title of a book chapter.
The phrase "moral equivalent of war" may have come from the classic essay "The Moral Equivalent of War" derived from the last speech given by American psychologist and philosopher William James
, delivered at Stanford University in 1906, in which "James considered one of the classic problems of politics: how to sustain political unity and civic virtue in the absence of war or a credible threat..." and "...sounds a rallying cry for service in the interests of the individual and the nation." Ideas mirrored in much of Carter's philosophy.
He cited historical energy changes from wood to coal then oil. He foresaw the renewed use of coal and solar power
. Our consumption of oil would keep going up every year. Our cars would continue to be too large and inefficient. Three-quarters of them would continue to carry only one person -- the driver -- while our public transportation system
continues to decline. He predicted that by 1985, energy use
would increase by 33 percent.
He predicted that $550 billion would be spent on imported oil by 1985, up from $37 billion at the time of the speech and $3.7 billion six year earlier.
10 principles were introduced:
Goals we set for 1985:
--Reduce the annual growth rate in our energy demand
to less than two percent.
--Reduce gasoline consumption by ten percent below its current level.
--Cut in half the portion of United States oil which is imported, from a potential level of 16 Moilbbl to 6 Moilbbl/d.
--Establish a strategic petroleum reserve of one billion barrels, more than six months' supply.
--Increase our coal production by about two thirds to more than 1 billion tons a year.
--Insulate 90 percent of American homes and all new buildings.
--Use solar energy in more than two and one-half million houses.
Those who insist on driving large, unnecessarily powerful cars must expect to pay more for that luxury.
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
addressed the United States on April 17, 1977.
It is notable because he compared the energy crisis
Energy crisis
An energy crisis is any great bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In popular literature though, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, particularly those that supply national electricity grids or serve as fuel for vehicles...
with the "moral equivalent of war" and clenched his fist for dramatic effect.
Carter called for a 10 point plan. He asked people to cut oil imports to half by 1985, but oil imports doubled in the next 20 years instead. He said people who insist on driving large cars should be forced to pay more. He said people should turn down their thermostat to 65 degrees, except at night when it should be 55 degrees.
A transcription of the speech is available at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/filmmore/ps_energy.html and can be watched on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tPePpMxJaA
The phrase became so notable, it was referenced in literature and even used as the title of a book chapter.
The phrase "moral equivalent of war" may have come from the classic essay "The Moral Equivalent of War" derived from the last speech given by American psychologist and philosopher William James
William James
William James was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher who was trained as a physician. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and on the philosophy of pragmatism...
, delivered at Stanford University in 1906, in which "James considered one of the classic problems of politics: how to sustain political unity and civic virtue in the absence of war or a credible threat..." and "...sounds a rallying cry for service in the interests of the individual and the nation." Ideas mirrored in much of Carter's philosophy.
Speech
Carter noted that the energy crisis was likely to progressively worsen and could result in a national catastrophe. He cited the effort was the "moral equivalent of war".He cited historical energy changes from wood to coal then oil. He foresaw the renewed use of coal and solar power
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
. Our consumption of oil would keep going up every year. Our cars would continue to be too large and inefficient. Three-quarters of them would continue to carry only one person -- the driver -- while our public transportation system
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
continues to decline. He predicted that by 1985, energy use
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
would increase by 33 percent.
He predicted that $550 billion would be spent on imported oil by 1985, up from $37 billion at the time of the speech and $3.7 billion six year earlier.
10 principles were introduced:
- the country can have an effective and comprehensive energy policyEnergy policyEnergy policy is the manner in which a given entity has decided to address issues of energy development including energy production, distribution and consumption...
only if the government takes responsibility for it and if the people understand the seriousness of the challenge and are willing to make sacrifices.
- healthy economic growthEconomic growthIn economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...
must continue. Only by saving energy can we maintain our standard of livingStandard of livingStandard of living is generally measured by standards such as real income per person and poverty rate. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, income growth inequality and educational standards are also used. Examples are access to certain goods , or measures of health such as...
and keep our people at work. An effective conservation program will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
- must protect the environment. Our energy problems have the same cause as our environmental problems -- wasteful use of resources. Conservation helps us solve both at once.
- must reduce our vulnerability to potentially devastating embargoes. We can protect ourselves from uncertain supplies by reducing our demand for oil, making the most of our abundant resources such as coal, and developing a strategic petroleum reserveStrategic Petroleum ReserveThe Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an emergency fuel storage of oil maintained by the United States Department of Energy.- United States :The US SPR is the largest emergency supply in the world with the current capacity to hold up to ....
.
- must ask equal sacrifices from every region, every class of people, every interest group. Industry will have to do its part to conserve, just as the consumers will. The energy producers deserve fair treatment, but we will not let the oil companies profiteer.
- the cornerstone of our policy, is to reduce the demand through conservation. Our emphasis on conservation is a clear difference between this plan and others which merely encouraged crash production efforts. Conservation is the quickest, cheapest, most practical source of energy. Conservation is the only way we can buy a barrel of oil for a few dollars. It costs about $13 to waste it.
- prices should generally reflect the true replacement costs of energy. We are only cheating ourselves if we make energy artificially cheap and use more than we can really afford.
- government policies must be predictable and certain. Both consumers and producers need policies they can count on so they can plan ahead. This is one reason I am working with the Congress to create a new Department of EnergyUnited States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
, to replace more than 50 different agencies that now have some control over energy.
- must conserve the fuels that are scarcest and make the most of those that are more plentiful. We can't continue to use oil and gas for 75 percent of our consumption when they make up seven percent of our domestic reserves. We need to shift to plentiful coal while taking care to protect the environment, and to apply stricter safety standardsSafety standardsSafety standards are standards designed to ensure the safety of products, activities or processes, etc. They may be advisory or compulsory and are normally laid down by an advisory or regulatory body that may be either voluntary or statutory...
to nuclear energy.
- must start now to develop the new, unconventional sources of energy we will rely on in the next century.
Goals we set for 1985:
--Reduce the annual growth rate in our energy demand
Domestic Energy Consumption
Domestic energy consumption is the amount of energy that is spent on the different appliances used within housing. The amount of energy used per household varies widely depending on the standard of living of the country, climate, and the age and type of residence...
to less than two percent.
--Reduce gasoline consumption by ten percent below its current level.
--Cut in half the portion of United States oil which is imported, from a potential level of 16 Moilbbl to 6 Moilbbl/d.
--Establish a strategic petroleum reserve of one billion barrels, more than six months' supply.
--Increase our coal production by about two thirds to more than 1 billion tons a year.
--Insulate 90 percent of American homes and all new buildings.
--Use solar energy in more than two and one-half million houses.
Those who insist on driving large, unnecessarily powerful cars must expect to pay more for that luxury.