said, "will be the immediate test of
our ability to unite this nation,
and it can also be the standard
around which we rally." Carter
tried to change the path of
America's energy future with his
'Crisis of Confidence' speech,
delivered 35 years ago Monday.
Here's why it didn't work.
Thirty-five years ago Monday evening,
Jimmy Carter stared America in the
eye, and invoking his promise that "I
will never lie to you," gave us all a royal
scolding.
It ran just over a half-hour, back in the
day when such speeches were carried
by all three of the commercial TV
networks, in prime time, before tens of
millions of viewers. Every one of those
viewers had likely spent some recent
time in a gasoline line, paying inflated
prices for scarce fuel.
"Why have we not been able to get
together as a nation to solve our
serious energy problem?" asked the
president, with an earnest gaze and
several chopping, pounding motions
with his right hand. It was a second
sortie for a president who two years
earlier had told us that our energy woes
were "the moral equivalent of war."
Carter then read a laundry list of public
grievances against the government, and
against himself, including a concise
summary of why America was entering
a "moral and spiritual crisis." He said
that America was losing faith in
government, and in citizens' ability to
participate in democracy. He
denounced self-indulgence,
overconsumption, and government
gridlock. He sounded at times like a
bitter, unusually articulate Grampa
pining for the Good Old Days.
A Gloomy Prophet
It's hard to watch or read the speech
without viewing Carter as a gloomy,
forthright prophet. But he also steered
his scold back to the central theme of
energy. "Energy," he said, "will be the
immediate test of our ability to unite
this nation, and it can also be the
standard around which we rally."
Carter's manifesto was hardly an attack
on the fossil fuel industry. He called for
energy conservation mandates and
improved public transportation, but he
also urged increased reliance on coal,
touted the promise of domestic shale
oil, and promised to remove
environmental obstacles to oil refinery
construction.
What he did do is make a firm
acknowledgement that our energy
supply controls our destiny, whether
it's in the hands of petro-states, coal
barons, or solar entrepreneurs. But
alas, Americans were no more in the
mood to be lectured about driving 55
or cutting down on unnecessary trips
than they are today. Carter's other
gestures, like installing a passive solar
array on the White House roof, also
failed to impress or inspire.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.