Jan 23 1974
From The Space Library
President Nixon transmitted a message to Congress outlining legislative proposals and executive actions to deal with the energy crisis. Proposals to meet the short-term emergency included a special act to permit restrictions on public consumption of energy and temporarily relax pollution control requirements for power plants and automotive emissions, a windfall profits tax to prevent private profiteering at public expense, unemployment insurance to help those who lost their jobs because of the energy crisis, and establishment of a Federal Energy Ad-ministration. To meet the long-range goal of energy self-sufficiency, proposals would allow market pricing of new natural gas, permit surface mining of coal in an environmentally safe manner, permit development of deepwater port facilities off shore, eliminate depletion allowances for foreign oil and gas production, and accelerate licensing of construction of nuclear facilities.
The President concluded that, although shortages had been long in appearing, the oil embargo-imposed on the U.S. by the Arab oil producing countries because of American support of Israel during the October 1973 war-"opened our eyes to the short-sighted policy we had been pursuing." The U.S. must never again allow itself to be overly dependent on foreign supplies of a vital good. "By 1980 . . . I believe we can . . . be essentially independent of foreign energy producers" (PD, 28 Jan 74, 72-87)
The Air Force announced the award of a $1 348 414 contract to General Electric Co. for the design, development, and testing of a space reentry vehicle for the reentry vehicle nosetip test program. (DOD Release 31-74)
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