Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
I am proposing a number of actions to energize our nuclear power program. I
will submit legislation to expedite nuclear leasing and the
rapid selection of sites.
In recent months, utilities have cancelled or postponed over 60 percent of
planned nuclear expansion and 30 percent of planned additions to
non-nuclear capacity. Financing problems for that industry are worsening. I
am therefore recommending that the 1-year investment tax credit of 12
percent be extended an additional 2 years to specifically speed the
construction of powerplants that do not use natural gas or oil. I am also
submitting proposals for selective reform of State utility commission
regulations.
To provide the critical stability for our domestic energy production in the
face of world price uncertainty, I will request legislation to authorize
and require tariffs, import quotas, or price floors to protect our energy
prices at levels which will achieve energy independence.
Increasing energy supplies is not enough. We must take additional steps to
cut long-term consumption. I therefore propose to the Congress: legislation
to make thermal efficiency standards mandatory for all new buildings in the
United States; a new tax credit of up to $150 for those homeowners who
install insulation equipment; the establishment of an energy conservation
program to help low-income families purchase insulation supplies;
legislation to modify and defer automotive pollution standards for 5 years,
which will enable us to improve automobile gas mileage by 40 percent by
1980.
These proposals and actions, cumulatively, can reduce our dependence on
foreign energy supplies from 3 to 5 million barrels per day by 1985. To
make the United States invulnerable to foreign disruption, I propose
standby emergency legislation and a strategic storage program of 1 billion
barrels of oil for domestic needs and 300 million barrels for national
defense purposes.
I will ask for the funds needed for energy research and development
activities. I have established a goal of 1 million barrels of synthetic
fuels and shale oil production per day by 1985 together with an incentive
program to achieve it.
I have a very deep belief in America's capabilities. Within the next 10
years, my program envisions: 200 major nuclear powerplants; 250 major new
coal mines; 150 major coal-fired powerplants; 30 major new refineries; 20
major new synthetic fuel plants; the drilling of many thousands of new
oil wells; the insulation of 18 million homes; and the manufacturing
and the sale of millions of new automobiles, trucks, and buses that
use much less fuel.
I happen to believe that we can do it. In another crisis--the one in 1942
President Franklin D. Roosevelt said this country would build 60,000
military aircraft. By 1943, production in that program had reached
125,000 aircraft annually. They did it then. We can do it now.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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