Energy

--Overview--

Early in his Administration, President Ford said that he would not sit by and watch the Nation continue to talk about an energy crisis and do nothing about it. Nor, he said, would he accept half-way measures which failed to change the direction that has made our nation so vulnerable to foreign economic interests.

The President proposed firm, but necessary measures designed to achieve energy independence for the U.S. by 1985, and to regain our position of world leadership in energy. To accomplish this objective, President Ford recommended to the Congress the first comprehensive national energy program specifically designed to reduce dependence on foreign oil, by:

1. increasing domestic energy production;
2. promoting the conservation of scarce energy supplies; and
3. new domestic energy supplies, including fossil, nuclear, solar, and geothermal energy sources.

It was no easy task, however, to accomplish the President's goal of a comprehensive national energy policy. The diverse and sometimes competing interests of many Americans led to months of national debate. President Ford's strong leadership resulted in a solid step forward in December with his signing of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975. In signing the compromise bill, President Ford said:

"This legislation is by no means perfect. It does not provide all the essential measures that the Nation needs to achieve energy independence as quickly as I would like.

"First, this bill will enable the U.S. to meet a substantial portion of the mid-term goals for energy independence that I set forth . . . Second, the pricing provisions of this legislation, properly implemented, will permit the gradual phasing out of controls on domestic oil . . . and should give industry sufficient incentive to explore, develop and produce new fields in the Outer Continental Shelf, Alaska, and potential new reserves in the lower 48 states . . . Third, . . . this legislation represents the most constructive bill we are likely to work out at this time . . .

". . . On balance, . . . I find that this legislation is constructive and puts into place the first elements of a comprehensive energy policy."

The measure contains these important provisions:

• Strategic Petroleum reserves for use in emergency.
• Provisions for the decontrol of oil prices after 40 months.
• Standby energy emergency authorities to enable the President to deal with severe energy emergencies that may arise in the future.
• Coal conversion authorities to permit the conversion of oil and gas fired utility and industrial boilers to coal.
• Assistance for States in developing energy conservation programs.

President Ford took other actions to get the U.S. on the road to energy independence. The President:

• Signed into law an act creating the Energy Research and Development Administration, and presented a $2.3 billion energy research and development budget for FY '76;
• Launched a voluntary automobile efficiency program to increase gasoline mileage, and a voluntary energy conservation program in industry;
• Took administrative steps to accelerate leasing of the Outer Continental Shelf to find and develop oil and gas reserves while providing, at the same time, protection for the environment;
• Took actions which led to reduced energy use by the Federal government;
• Increased international cooperation in the energy field through our support of the International Energy Agency.

The President knows that there is a great deal more to do. In his State-of-the-Union message for 1976, he said:

"Taking a longer look at America's future there can be neither sustained growth nor more jobs unless we continue to have an assured supply of energy to run our economy. Domestic production of oil and gas is still declining. Our dependence on foreign oil at high prices is still too great, draining jobs and dollars away from our own economy at the rate of $125 per year for every American. . . .

I again urge the Congress to move ahead immediately on the remainder of my energy proposals to make America invulnerable to the foreign oil cartel . . . "

Other proposals which he has submitted to the Congress and which are vital to the achievement of energy independence would:

• Reduce domestic natural gas shortage;
• Allow production from national petroleum reserves;
• Stimulate effective conservation, including revitalization of our railroads and the expansion of our urban transportation systems;
• Develop more and cleaner energy from our vast coal resources;
• Expedite clean and safe nuclear power production;
• Create a new national Energy Independence Authority to stimulate vital energy investment;
• And accelerate development of technology to capture energy from the sun and the earth for this and future generations.

President Ford has, from the outset of his Administration, shown strong leadership in setting the nation's energy policy, to finally enter the road to energy independence.

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