US Presidency
1979

I am announcing tonight that for 1979 and 1980, I will forbid the entry into this country of one drop of foreign oil more than these goals allow. These quotas will ensure a reduction in imports even below the ambitious levels we set at the recent Tokyo summit. Point three: To give us energy security, I am asking for the most massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in our Nation's history to develop America's own alternative sources of fuel, from coal, from oil shale, from plant products for gasohol, from unconventional gas, from the Sun. I propose the creation of an energy security corporation to lead this effort to replace 2 1/2 million barrels of imported oil per day by 1990. The corporation will issue up to $ 5 billion in energy bonds, and I especially want them to be in small denominations so that average Americans can invest directly in America's energy security.