The Man From Plains, With Lessons From the '70s »
Posted By FairNBalanced 5 months, 3 weeks ago in Political NewsCalling Jimmy Carter to testify about energy security, it might seem, is a bit like calling Michael Vick to testify about pet care.
Read Full Story at washingtonpost.com »
267 Views Share Story 31 Comments Report
Submitted By:
FairNBalanced
You may remember me as catstevens. I deleted my account when propeller made their changes over a year ago. I have been FairNBalanced, after rejoining ...
Who Also Submitted:
RSS Join the Discussion
+ Add CommentComments So Far: 31 (view all)
-
83%
FairNBalanced5 months, 3 weeks ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
"We had a call from George Herbert Walker Bush, and he wants to debate with you on which is the finest aircraft carrier, his or yours," Kerry teased.
Reply
"I didn't say aircraft carrier," Carter corrected. "I said warship."
He is too much!!!!
I take after my Mom. She never cared for folks that blow their own horns, either.-
78%
nostalgia5 months, 3 weeks ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
FTA:
Reply
The man who tried 30 years ago to cure the nation's energy ills then went downstairs to a reminder of that failed effort: the 14-mile-per-gallon Chevy Suburban that was waiting for him.
Guess Carter isn't really concerned about energy conservation any more than Al Gore is!
-
-
-
100%
greenmac5 months, 3 weeks ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
" Consider President Jimmy Carter's April 18, 1977 speech. Since it was given nearly three decades ago, when many of the reporters in Bush's White House were children, it's understandable that they don't remember it. But it's inexcusable that Bush and the mainstream media (which, after all, has the ability to do research) would completely ignore it. It was the speech that established the strategic petroleum reserve, birthed the modern solar power industry, led to the insulation of millions of American homes, and established America's first national energy policy. "With the exception of preventing war," said Jimmy Carter, a man of peace, "this is the greatest challenge our country will face during our lifetimes."
Reply
He added: "It is a problem we will not solve in the next few years, and it is likely to get progressively worse through the rest of this century. "We must not be selfish or timid if we hope to have a decent world for our children and grandchildren.
"We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources. By acting now, we can control our future instead of letting the future control us." Carter bluntly pointed out that: "The most important thing about these proposals is that the alternative may be a national catastrophe. Further delay can affect our strength and our power as a nation." He called the new energy policy he was proposing, "[T]he 'moral equivalent of war' -- except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not destroy."
When Carter had become president three months earlier, the nation was still recovering from the "oil shock" of the 1973 Arab oil embargo, and scientists were realizing our nation was just then hitting the point of domestic peak oil production predicted more than a decade earlier by scientist M. King Hubbert. (The rest of the world is hitting the Hubbert Peak right now.) As Carter noted in his speech, "The oil and natural gas we rely on for 75 percent of our energy are running out. In spite of increased effort, domestic production has been dropping steadily at about six percent a year. Imports have doubled in the last five years. Our nation's independence of economic and political action is becoming increasingly constrained." Hubbert had predicted that the peak of oil production for the USA would come in the 1970s, and it did, hitting us with a shock.
"The world has not prepared for the future," said Jimmy Carter. "During the 1950s, people used twice as much oil as during the 1940s. During the 1960s, we used twice as much as during the 1950s. And in each of those decades, more oil was consumed than in all of mankind's previous history." Hubbert said we must begin to conserve. Carter agreed.
"Ours is the most wasteful nation on earth," he said, a point that is still true. "We waste"-
-
-
100%
StevieGee5 months, 3 weeks ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Jimmy Carter was a visionary. He realized that we needed to be energy independent and took steps to make it happen. Reagan dismantled most of what he did though. In the 70's energy was still pretty cheap. He was ahead of the curve. Jerry Brown also was ahead of the curve, advocating solar and other green local energies at a time when lots of people thought it wasn't necessary. He also wanted to put a geostationary satellite in orbit above California earning him the nickname Moonbeam. Of course there are several of them now. like I said, ahead of the curve.
Reply
-
-
-
More News
Politics Daily
Zoning the Flock: Are Megachurches the New Walmart?
Obama and the Media: Is the Critic-in-Chief Too Thin-Skinned?
House Narrowly Passes Historic Health Care Bill
Obama Lobbies for Health Care Votes, Pressure Mounts on Democrats
Obama Mourns Fort Hood Soldiers, Plans Tuesday Trip There For Memorial Service
Fox News Politics
Iran, North Korea Top Clinton's Overseas Agenda
Pawlenty Delivers Keynote Speech at GOP Dinner in Iowa
Republicans Question Abortion Agreement in Effort to Stop Health Care Momentum
Clinton to Confront Nuclear Impasses With Iran, N. Korea on Overseas Trip
Terrorism or Tragic Shooting? Analysts Divided on Fort Hood Massacre
Add a Comment
Sign In With Your Propeller Account
Please keep your comments relevant to this story.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.