Document A) Public Service Announcement from the US Dept. of Energy circa 1970s
Document B) Carter's Crisis of Confidence Speech - July 15, 1979
President Carter speaks to Americans about the "crisis of confidence" in American government, values, and way of life, as the public expresses doubt in a better future for their own children. Carter challenges citizens to unite and address the problems in America by first addressing the energy shortage.
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We ourselves are the same Americans who just 10 years ago put a man on the Moon. We are the generation that dedicated our society to the pursuit of human rights and equality. 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.
We are at a turning point in our history. . . .
In little more than two decades we've gone from a position of energy independence to one in which almost half the oil we use comes from foreign countries, at prices that are going through the roof. Our excessive dependence on OPEC has already taken a tremendous toll on our economy and our people. This is the direct cause of the long lines which have made millions of you spend aggravating hours waiting for gasoline. It's a cause of the increased inflation and unemployment that we now face. This intolerable dependence on foreign oil threatens our economic independence and the very security of our Nation.
The energy crisis is real. It is worldwide. It is a clear and present danger to our Nation. These are facts and we simply must face them:
What I have to say to you now about energy is simple and vitally important.
Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States. Beginning this moment, this Nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977—never. From now on, every new addition to our demand for energy will be met from our own production and our own conservation. 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.
Complete Text Available At: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/carter-crisis/
Click here for a Wordle created using the entire text of the speech. As you look at it, pay attention to what words he used the most.
_____________
We ourselves are the same Americans who just 10 years ago put a man on the Moon. We are the generation that dedicated our society to the pursuit of human rights and equality. 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.
We are at a turning point in our history. . . .
In little more than two decades we've gone from a position of energy independence to one in which almost half the oil we use comes from foreign countries, at prices that are going through the roof. Our excessive dependence on OPEC has already taken a tremendous toll on our economy and our people. This is the direct cause of the long lines which have made millions of you spend aggravating hours waiting for gasoline. It's a cause of the increased inflation and unemployment that we now face. This intolerable dependence on foreign oil threatens our economic independence and the very security of our Nation.
The energy crisis is real. It is worldwide. It is a clear and present danger to our Nation. These are facts and we simply must face them:
What I have to say to you now about energy is simple and vitally important.
Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States. Beginning this moment, this Nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977—never. From now on, every new addition to our demand for energy will be met from our own production and our own conservation. 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.
Complete Text Available At: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/carter-crisis/
Click here for a Wordle created using the entire text of the speech. As you look at it, pay attention to what words he used the most.
Document C) Comparison of Price Per Barrel and Major Events
To read more about these events that are underlined, visit the following website which is the source of the graph: http://www.eia.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/chronology/petroleumchronology2000.htm#T_9_
Document D) Political Cartoons, 1973 and 1978 - Beaver Falls News Tribune by John Shevchik
Document E) President Ronald Reagan Executive Order 12287 - Decontrol of Crude Oil and Refined Petroleum Products
January 28, 1981
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of
America, including the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, as amended (15 U.S.C. 751 et seq.),
and notwithstanding the delegations to the Secretary of Energy in Executive Order No. 11790 as
amended by Executive Order No. 12038, and in order to provide for an immediate and orderly
decontrol of crude oil and refined petroleum products, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. All crude oil and refined petroleum products are exempted from the price and allocation
controls adopted pursuant to the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, as amended.
The Secretary of Energy shall promptly take such action as is necessary to revoke the price and
allocation regulations made unnecessary by this Order.
Vocabulary Search: http://www.visuwords.com
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of
America, including the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, as amended (15 U.S.C. 751 et seq.),
and notwithstanding the delegations to the Secretary of Energy in Executive Order No. 11790 as
amended by Executive Order No. 12038, and in order to provide for an immediate and orderly
decontrol of crude oil and refined petroleum products, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. All crude oil and refined petroleum products are exempted from the price and allocation
controls adopted pursuant to the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, as amended.
The Secretary of Energy shall promptly take such action as is necessary to revoke the price and
allocation regulations made unnecessary by this Order.
Vocabulary Search: http://www.visuwords.com
Document F) Photographs of Gasoline Lines
If there is any word that you do not understand in one of the documents, you can put the word into VisuWords.