Since 1971 no general federal coal lease sales were suspended.  Over the past four years the Administration has completely revised the federal coal leasing program to bring it into compliance with the requirements of 1976 Federal Land Planning and Management Act and other statutory provisions.  The program is designed to balance the competing interests that affect resource development on public lands and to ensure that adequate supplies of coal will be available to meet national needs.  As a result, the first general competitive federal coal lease sale in ten years will be held this month.

In July 1980, I signed into law the Energy Security Act of 1980 which established the Synthetic Fuels Corporation.  The Corporation is designed to spur the development of commercial technologies for production of synthetic fuels, such as liquid and gaseous fuels from coal and the production of oil from oil shale.  The Act provides the Corporation with an initial $22 billion to accomplish these objectives.  The principal purpose of the legislation is to ensure that the nation will have available in the late 1980’s the option to undertake commercial development of synthetic fuels if that becomes necessary.  The Energy Security Act also provides significant incentives for the development of gasohol and biomass fuels, thereby enhancing the nation’s supply of alternative energy sources.

COMMITMENT TO A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FUTURE

The Administration’s 1977 National Energy Plan marked an historic departure from the policies of previous Administrations.  The plan stressed the importance of both energy production and conservation to achieving our ultimate national goal of relying primarily on secure sources of energy.  The National Energy Plan made energy conservation a cornerstone of our national energy policy.

In 1978, I initiated the Administration’s Solar Domestic Policy Review.  This represented the first step towards widespread introduction of renewable energy sources into the Nation’s economy.  As a result of the Review, I issued the 1979 Solar Message to Congress, the first such message in the Nation’s history.  The Message outlined the Administration’s solar program and established an ambitious national goal for the year 2000 of obtaining 20 percent of this Nation’s energy from solar and renewable sources.  The thrust of the federal solar program is to help industry develop solar energy sources by emphasizing basic research and development of solar technologies which are not currently economic, such as photovoltaics, which generate energy directly from the sun.  At the same time, through tax incentives, education, and the Solar Energy and Energy Conservation Bank, the solar program seeks to encourage state and local governments, industry, and our citizens to expand their use of solar and renewable resource technologies currently available.