section_path: Presidency (1977–1981)/Domestic policy/U.S. energy crisis
section_name: U.S. energy crisis
paragraph_text: U.S. energy crisis
  
  Moralism typified much of Carter's action. 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 water heating panels on the White House. He wore a cardigan to offset turning down the heat in the White House. 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.
  
  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." The next month, he called energy "the most important domestic issue that we will face while I am in office".
  
  On January 12, 1978, Carter said the continued discussions about his energy reform proposal had been "long and divisive and arduous". 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. 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.
  
  On March 1, 1979, Carter submitted a standby gasoline rationing plan per the request of Congress. 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.
  
  On July 15, 1979, Carter delivered a nationally televised address in which he identified what he believed to be a " crisis of confidence " among American people, 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. Some later called this his " malaise speech", memorable for mixed reactions and his use of rhetoric. 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.
  
  Moralism typified much of Carter's action. 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 water heating panels on the White House. He wore a cardigan to offset turning down the heat in the White House. 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.
  
  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." The next month, he called energy "the most important domestic issue that we will face while I am in office".
  
  On January 12, 1978, Carter said the continued discussions about his energy reform proposal had been "long and divisive and arduous". 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. 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.
  
  On March 1, 1979, Carter submitted a standby gasoline rationing plan per the request of Congress. 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.
  
  On July 15, 1979, Carter delivered a nationally televised address in which he identified what he believed to be a " crisis of confidence " among American people, 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. Some later called this his " malaise speech", memorable for mixed reactions and his use of rhetoric. 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.