Editing Jimmy Carter (section)

==== U.S. energy crisis ====
{{Further|1979 oil crisis}}
[[File:Carter leaving Three Mile Island.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|Carter at [[Three Mile Island]] [[Three Mile Island accident|nuclear accident]], April 1979]]

Moralism typified much of Carter's action.<ref>Kenneth Earl Morris, ed. ''Jimmy Carter, American Moralist'' ( University of Georgia Press, 1996).</ref> On April 18, 1977, he delivered a televised speech declaring that the energy crisis was the "moral equivalent of war". He encouraged [[energy conservation]] and installed [[Solar power at the White House|solar water heating panels on the White House]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unity.edu/news/solar1004.htm |title=Maine college to auction off former White House solar panels |date=October 28, 2004 |access-date=January 31, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122051251/https://www.unity.edu/News/solar1004.htm |archive-date=January 22, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Dave |last=Burdick |url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/27/white-house-solar-panels_n_160575.html |work=HuffPost |title=White House Solar Panels: What Ever Happened To Carter's Solar Thermal Water Heater? (VIDEO) |date=January 27, 2009 |access-date=January 31, 2010 |archive-date=September 4, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904023005/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/27/white-house-solar-panels_n_160575.html |url-status=live}}</ref> He wore a [[cardigan (sweater)|cardigan]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/president-jimmy-carter-death-100-environmental-legacy-conservation-solar-energy-alaskan-national-wildlife-refuge/|title=The bold environmental vision of President Jimmy Carter|first=Kai|last=Bird|access-date=January 1, 2025|archive-date=January 1, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101184520/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/president-jimmy-carter-death-100-environmental-legacy-conservation-solar-energy-alaskan-national-wildlife-refuge/|url-status=live}}</ref> to offset turning down the heat in the White House.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/days-of-malaise-and-jimmy-carters-solar-panels|title=Days of 'Malaise' and Jimmy Carter's Solar Panels|first1=Craig|last1=Shirley|date=October 8, 2010|access-date=August 30, 2021|publisher=Fox News|archive-date=November 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141122031809/https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/10/08/craig-shirley-jimmy-carter-white-house-energy-crisis-solar-panels-ronald-reagan/|url-status=live}}</ref> On August 4, 1977, Carter signed the [[Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977]], forming the Department of Energy, the first new cabinet position in eleven years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Relyea |first1=Harold |title=The executive branch, creation and reorganization |year=2003 |publisher=Nova Publishers |page=29 |last2=Carr |first2=Thomas P. |isbn=978-1-59033-610-6}}</ref>

Carter emphasized that the House of Representatives had "adopted almost all" of the energy proposal he had made five months earlier and called the compromise "a turning point in establishing a comprehensive energy program."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-125 |title=The President's News Conference (29 September 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816115250/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-125 |url-status=live}}</ref> The next month, he called energy "the most important domestic issue that we will face while I am in office".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-122 |title=The President's News Conference (13 October 2021) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=November 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105040157/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-122 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On January 12, 1978, Carter said the continued discussions about his energy reform proposal had been "long and divisive and arduous".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1008 |title=The President's News Conference (12 January 1978) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140632/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1008 |url-status=live}}</ref> In an April 11, 1978, news conference, Carter said his biggest surprise "in the nature of a disappointment" since becoming president was the difficulty Congress had in passing legislation, citing the energy reform bill in particular.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1006 |title=The President's News Conference (11 April 1978) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140501/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1006 |url-status=live}}</ref> After much deliberation and modification, Congress approved the Carter energy legislation on October 15, 1978. It deregulated the sale of natural gas, dropped a longstanding pricing disparity between intra- and interstate gas, and created tax credits to encourage energy conservation and the use of non-fossil fuels.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kaufman |first=Burton Ira |title=The Presidency of James Earl Carter, Jr. |date=1993 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |isbn=978-0-7006-0572-9 |location=Lawrence, Kansas |page=108 |oclc=26359258}}</ref>

On March 1, 1979, Carter submitted a standby [[Rationing in the United States|gasoline rationing plan]] per the request of Congress.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/standby-gasoline-rationing-plan-message-the-congress-transmitting-the-plan-0 |title=Standby Gasoline Rationing Plan Message to the Congress Transmitting the Plan. (1 March 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140613/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/standby-gasoline-rationing-plan-message-the-congress-transmitting-the-plan-0 |url-status=live}}</ref> On April 5, he delivered an address in which he stressed the urgency of energy conservation and increasing domestic production of energy sources such as coal and solar.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/energy-address-the-nation |title=Energy Address to the Nation. (5 April 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140452/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/energy-address-the-nation |url-status=live}}</ref>

On July 15, 1979, Carter delivered a nationally televised address in which he identified what he believed to be a "[[s:The Crisis of Confidence|crisis of confidence]]" among American people,<ref name="millercenter1979">{{cite web |url=https://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3402 |title="Crisis of Confidence" Speech (July 15, 1979) |publisher=Miller Center, University of Virginia |format=text and video |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721024329/https://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3402 |archive-date=July 21, 2009 |date=October 20, 2016}}</ref> under the advisement of pollster [[Pat Caddell]] who believed Americans faced a crisis in confidence from events of the 1960s and 1970s, before his presidency.<ref name="crisis speech">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-crisis-speech/ |publisher=PBS |series=American Experience |title=Jimmy Carter |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=October 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019101602/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-crisis-speech/}}</ref> Some later called this his "[[malaise]] speech",<ref name="millercenter1979" /> memorable for mixed reactions<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eoearth.org/article/Jimmy_Carter%27s__malaise_speech_ |publisher=The Encyclopedia of Earth |title=Jimmy Carter's "malaise speech" |author=Cutler Cleveland |date=January 24, 2007 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=July 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711161737/https://www.eoearth.org/article/Jimmy_Carter%27s__malaise_speech_ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0611F8395D12728DDDA10994DF405B898BF1D3 |title=Speech Lifts Carter Rating to 37%; Public Agrees on Confidence Crisis; Responsive Chord Struck |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 18, 1979 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |author=Adam Clymer |author-link=Adam Clymer |page=A1 |archive-date=May 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517074931/https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0611F8395D12728DDDA10994DF405B898BF1D3 |url-status=live}}</ref> and his use of rhetoric.<ref name="crisis speech" /> The speech's negative reception centered on a view that he did not emphasize his own efforts to address the energy crisis and seemed too reliant on Americans.<ref>{{cite book |last=Weintraub |first=Walter |title=Political Psychology 7: Profiles of American Presidents as Revealed in Their Public Statements: The Presidential News Conferences of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan |year=1986 |publisher=International Society of Political Psychology |pages=285–295}}</ref>