It was nothing but the typical load of nonsense that the left still spews.

“Unless profound changes are made to lower oil consumption, we now believe that early in the 1980s the world will be demanding more oil tha[n] it can produce.
The world now uses about 60 million barrels of oil a day and demand increases each year about 5 percent.”

That would be 270 million bbl / day now. The actual consumption is about 85 million. Carter was and is too ignorant to understand that his hypothesis was impossible. In a free market if the demand started to outstrip the supply, the increase in price would bring the demand down to equal supply.

“World consumption of oil is still going up. If it were possible to keep it rising during the 1970s and 1980s by 5 percent a year as it has in the past, we could use up all the proven reserves of oil in the entire world by the end of the next decade.”

Was anyone really stupid enough to believe that? The world will not run out of oil or natural gas in any of our lifetimes. Proven reserves reflect the extent of current exploration and technology. Also, again, the free market makes it impossible. And, of course, proved reserves have DOUBLED since he was thrown out of office.

“Each American uses the energy equivalent of 60 barrels of oil per person each year. Ours is the most wasteful nation on earth.”

Not the most wasteful, the most productive. The United States consumes about 24% of the yearly production of oil and produces 30% of the world GDP, not to mention having given the rest of the world the capability to produce practically everything that they make.

And the rest of the speech was just the same nonsense over and over and over again.

I looked up this speech a little while ago. I remember when Jimmy gave it, and the phrase that stuck with me, and was the reason that I looked it up, was that the US wastes more energy than it imports. Obviously, some of his numbers were not quite accurate, and that may generate some criticism on this forum, but you would have to have a head of wood not to see the wisdom that was present. I have always been proud of Jimmy Carter.