July 15, 2006, marks the 27th anniversary of a speech, which over the years has been much maligned by political pundits. This fateful speech, they smugly concluded, had come to symbolize an administration and a government most Americans considered incapable of meeting the challenges of the future.

Recent events, however, seem to suggest that the path not taken on that July night was, in fact, a path worth taking.

In his speech, President Jimmy Carter warned, “We can’t go on consuming 40 percent more energy than we produce. When we import oil we are also importing inflation plus unemployment.”

Since 1979, America’s dependence on foreign oil has deepened rather than lessened. Today, most Americans feel the pain at the pumps as businesses and individuals increasingly struggle to make ends meet.

Mr. Carter cautioned his listeners, “There will be other cartels and other shortages. American wisdom and courage right now can set a path to follow in the future.”

He then went on to challenge Americans to choose this path because, as he noted, “In little more than two decades we’ve gone from a position of energy independence to one in which almost half the oil we use comes from foreign countries, at prices that are going through the roof. Our excessive dependence on OPEC has already taken a tremendous toll on our economy and our people. This intolerable dependence on foreign oil threatens our economic independence and the very security of our nation. The energy crisis is real. It is worldwide. It is a clear and present danger to our nation. These are the facts and we simply must face them.”

In his State of the Union address 27 years later, President Bush reached a similar conclusion, stating, “America is addicted to oil.” For two presidents of opposing political parties, separated by ideology, philosophy, and life experiences, to reach the same conclusion, is an inconvenient truth that our country has chosen to ignore for far too long.

It is worth noting that, in the years since Mr. Carter issued his clarion call to reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign petroleum, America’s oil addiction has only worsened. Sixty-six percent of oil consumed in the United States today comes from foreign sources, up from 58 percent in 2000. Americans now spend $200,000 a minute on foreign oil and more than $25 billion annually goes to Persian Gulf states for oil imports.

Mr. Carter warned us that energy would be the immediate test of our ability to unite this nation, and the standard around which we would rise or fall. “On the battlefield of energy we can win for our nation a new confidence, and we can seize control again of our common destiny.“

In his remarkable address, Jimmy Carter called on all Americans to take a good, hard look at how we live relative to the rest of the world. “We are at a turning point in our history,” he concluded. “There are two paths to choose. One is a path I’ve warned about tonight, the path that leads to fragmentation and self-interest. Down that road lies a mistaken idea of freedom, the right to grasp for ourselves some advantage over others. That path would be one of constant conflict between narrow interests ending in chaos and immobility. It is a certain route to failure.”

Mr. Carter outlined a more hopeful course. “All the traditions of our past, all the lessons of our heritage, all the promises of our future point to another path, the path of common purpose and the restoration of American values. That path leads to true freedom for our nation and ourselves. We can take the first steps down that path as we begin to solve our energy problem.”

That we have failed to heed his call and chosen the first path, rather than the second, is not an indictment of Mr. Carter or his policies. As William Shakespeare so aptly noted, “The fault lies not in our stars, but in ourselves.”

Tony Pattiz
Peachtree City, Ga.

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