The Administration's 1977 National Energy Plan marked an historic departure
from the policies of previous Administrations. The plan stressed the
importance of both energy production and conservation to achieving our
ultimate national goal of relying primarily on secure sources of energy.
The National Energy Plan made energy conservation a cornerstone of our
national energy policy.
In 1978, I initiated the Administration's Solar Domestic Policy Review.
This represented the first step towards widespread introduction of
renewable energy sources into the Nation's economy. As a result of the
Review, I issued the 1979 Solar Message to Congress, the first such message
in the Nation's history. The Message outlined the Administration's solar
program and established an ambitious national goal for the year 2000 of
obtaining 20 percent of this Nation's energy from solar and renewable
sources. The thrust of the federal solar program is to help industry
develop solar energy sources by emphasizing basic research and development
of solar technologies which are not currently economic, such as
photovoltaics, which generate energy directly from the sun. At the same
time, through tax incentives, education, and the Solar Energy and Energy
Conservation Bank, the solar program seeks to encourage state and local
governments, industry, and our citizens to expand their use of solar and
renewable resource technologies currently available.
As a result of these policies and programs, the energy efficiency of the
American economy has improved markedly and investments in renewable energy
sources have grown significantly. It now takes 3 1/2 percent less energy to
produce a constant dollar of GNP than it did in January 1977. This increase
in efficiency represents a savings of over 1.3 million barrels per day of
oil equivalent, about the level of total oil production now occurring in
Alaska. Over the same period, Federal support for conservation and solar
energy has increased by more than 3000 percent, to $3.3 billion in FY 1981,
including the tax credits for solar energy and energy conservation
investments--these credits are expected to amount to $1.2 billion in FY
1981 and $1.5 billion in FY 1982.