WILL THEY LISTEN NOW?

Carter: Energy problems will again test America
H. Josef Hebert, May 12, 2009 (AP)

"Former President Jimmy Carter left at home the cardigan sweater he wore during his fireside energy chats 32 years ago, but told a Senate hearing… the nation's energy challenges haven't changed much in that time and will test America's resolve.

"Former presidents rarely testify before congressional committees, but Carter took lawmakers through the struggles he faced as president trying to convince the public, members of Congress and entrenched and powerful interest groups of the economic and security threats of excessive dependence on foreign oil."

From associatedpress via YouTube.

"At the time the United States imported 46 percent of its oil. Today nearly 60 percent comes from sources outside the country.

"In a famous "fireside chat" in 1977 Carter donned a camel-colored cardigan sweater and spoke of the need for Americans to use less energy, turn down their thermostats and support his efforts to develop alternative energy sources…He also directed the White House thermostat be lowered to 65 degrees in the daytime and 55 degrees at night."

President Carter, in a prescient moment, put the solar panels up. President Reagan, in a shortsighted moment, took them down. Yes, the Party of No goes back that far. (click to enlarge)

"Beginning his remarks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Carter…quoted his words of 32 years ago when he called the struggle for greater energy independence "the moral equivalent of war [that] will test the character of the American people."

"Those words still apply, he suggested, adding that as in the 1970s, entrenched vested interests are ready to fight the energy changes that are needed. More than ever, he said, reduced reliance on oil, especially imports, poses national security as well as economic risks…

"Carter argued that only the president can get the energy priority shifts that he believes are needed to keep opponents from killing the measure on a single issue…"