Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
559235909
label
Emergency Energy Action Group
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
559235909
contentType
document
title
Emergency Energy Action Group
citationUrl
collections
White House Staff Member and Office Files (Nixon Administration)
Energy Policy Office Files
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
559235909
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
554c5d5e7ddc8384
ocrText
aleat"
Flamyon
THE WHITE HOUSE
wASHINGTON
November 15, 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
JOHN A. LOVE
CAL
SUBJECT:
First Meeting of Emergency
Energy Action Group (EEAG)
The first meeting of the EEAG was held at 6:00 PM yesterday.
Principals in attendance were:
John A. Love, Chairman
Roy Ash
Rogers Morton
Mel Laird
Claude Brinegar
Peter Flanigan
John Tabor (for Fred Dent)
Bill Clements
George Shultz
Gen. Scowcroft
It was agreed that future meetings would be held regularly
at 11:00 AM on Mondays and Thursdays. In addition several
other items were discussed.
1. Rogers Morton reported on the status of the present
mandatory fuel allocation program. Two problems were
discussed:
-- Fear of anti-trust action and conflict of
interest is delaying attempts to get the
temporary services of about 225 industry
marketing and distribution experts to help
in solving anticipated problems. These could
be solved by the emergency legislation pending
before Congress.
-- Fundamental priorities for the program must
Reproduced at Richard Nixon Presidential Library
- 2 -
be set. The present program was designed
to allocate based on historical use. With
the greater shortage now anticipated, a
form of priority ordering is needed. The
objective will be to minimize impact on the
economy. An options paper will be prepared
by Interior for the next meeting.
2. Recent adverse publicity concerning fuel exports
from the U.S. were discussed. It was concluded that these
shipments were legal and small in quantity (less than two
tenths of one per cent of total U.S. oil consumption). They
are, however, politically very unpopular and there is some
evidence of recent profiteering. An options paper will be
prepared by the Energy Policy Office on ways and implica-
tions of limiting exports and ways of dealing with the new
allocation legislation which will require a Presidential
determination that exports are consistent with the national
security before a license is issued. In the interim, a
press release will be made stressing the small quantities
of oil involved and the fact that action will be forthcoming
immediately.
3. OMB reported on State response to the Presidential
message regarding conservation measures. State response
has been extremely favorable. Eight states have implemented
programs while others have requested authority needed from
the State legislature.
4. The Department of the Interior and OMB will prepare
and distribute prior to Monday's meeting, a paper which sets
out an agreed upon estimate of the shortfall caused by the
embargo and a broad strategy for dealing with the shortfalls
expected in each of the following categories: gasoline,
residual fuel oil and distillate fuel oil. This will be
done to attain interagency agreement on these important
subjects.
5. Regarding near term conservation actions, it was
agreed that priority must be placed on making major reduc-
tions in gas consumption while pushing refineries towards
maximum distillate production and reduced gasoline production.
A task group was established to examine alternative rationing
and tax measures to reduce gasoline consumption as well as
economic incentives for expanding refinery distillate
production.
Reproduced at Richard Nixon Presidential Library
- 3 -
Options will also be sought to cut back on energy consumption
now, before shortfalls start appearing in order to lessen
the ultimate impact. This will also take advantage of the
high level of bipartisan support that currently exists on
the hill. OMB will prepare sets of options papers of short
term measures that could be taken.
6. Several topics for future meetings were discussed.
Work has been started on
-- an economic impact study and ways of reducing
petroleum consumption to minimize impact;
-- impact of cutbacks on airlines;
-- anti-trust and conflict of interest problems
associated with the mandatory allocation.
A second report with policy recommendations will be forwarded
after Monday's meeting.
CC: All attendees
Reproduced at Richard Nixon Presidential Library
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
November 19, 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR:
THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
JOHN A. LOVE
SUBJECT:
Meeting of the Energy Emergency
Action Group, November 19, 1973
The second meeting of the Energy Emergency Action Group was
held today.
All primary objectives of the meeting were accomplished.
These included:
(1) To arrive at an agreed upon government-wide estimate
of the magnitude of projected shortfalls through March of next
year;
(2) To develop and agree upon a strategy for adjusting
demands in ways that minimize economic impact;
(3) To decide upon certain initial emergency conservation
measures which could be implemented immediately in order to
(a) cut consumption prior to the actual impact of the Arab
embargo and (b) to provide Federal leadership to State
conservation efforts;
(4) To develop a policy for treating oil exports.
This memo describes these issues, the conclusions reached, as
well as outstanding problems and next steps.
Magnitude of Projected Shortfalls
Based on an interagency analysis, it was concluded that
petroleum supply deficits of 1.4 billion barrels per day and
3.4 million barrels per day could be expected with the fourth
quarter of 1973 and the first quarter of 1974. This is an
average shortage of 2.4 to 2.6 million barrels per day over
the winter. These estimates assume that the embargo lasts
Reproduced at Richard Nixon Presidential Library
2
through the winter and we are designing our program to adjust
to them while minimizing the impact on the economy. We agreed
upon a strategy dampening demand for each major petroleum
product.
Jet Fuel
Airline schedules will be reduced about 19% saving the
required 170 thousand barrels per day.
Gasoline
A 30 percent reduction in passenger car use. will be needed
if we are to avoid impacting commercial needs. This is the
area where the largest reductions are needed and we will take
mandatory conservation steps immediately (discussed below)
to get consumption down before the effects of the embargo are
actually felt. Other actions, including tax and rationing
measures, will be considered at a later meeting.
Distillate Fuel
A 15 percent reduction in residential and a 25 percent
cut in commercial heating will be required. The residential
reductions could be attained by lowering thermostats six
degrees. The larger 25 percent commercial heating reduction
will be attained by limiting commercial establishment hours
in addition to a ten degree thermostat reduction. To round
out the needed distillate savings, we will aim at a ten degree
industrial heating cutback in an attempt to avoid an impact
on industrial production and employment. Finally, to expand
the production of distillate needed for home heating and
other vital areas, a program aimed at getting refineries to
increase the production of distillate and other heating oil
at the expense of gasoline will be developed. These include
(a) immediate requests to all oil refineries to maximize
distillate production and (b) review of fuel prices to
ensure that switching over not run counter to refinery
profitability.
Residual Fuel Oil
Savings will be attained by switching oil burning
utilities to coal and making twenty percent cuts in household
electrical use. These savings cannot be ordered until we have
authority in the Emergency Energy Bill now before the Congress.
Some additional tax authority may also be required.
Reproduced at Richard Nixon Presidential Library
3
Recommended Immediate Steps
Cutbacks will not be easy to implement and as a first step
towards getting an early start in cutting back on gasoline
and electrical consumption it was decided that the following
immediate actions should be announced:
(1) The retail sale of gasoline will be banned between
9:00 pm on Saturday and 12:00 midnight Sunday. This will
have only a marginal economic impact, and will be an explicit
demonstration of Federal leadership resulting in significant
gasoline savings. This plan will become effective on
December 1 and will be announced immediately.
(2) The use of exterior ornamental lighting will be
prohibited. This will include exterior Christmas ornamental
lights and some gas and electric yard lights. This will be
announced immediately but cannot become effective until the
energy emergency legislation becomes law.
(3) Finally, lights used for outside advertising will
be prohibited except for those needed to identify establishments
when they are open. This also requires legislation.
These sorts of emergency conservation measures will continue
to be considered by the group with explicit consideration
given next Wednesday to a mandated nationwide 50 mph speed
limit (more information is needed on the economic impact on
buses and trucks and adjustments, if any, which might be made
to minimize that impact). Stopping the sale of fuel to
corporate jets and other measures will also be examined.
It was also agreed that the mandatory oil allocation program
should immediately be extended to provide for reduced allocation
to users of home heating and other distillate fuels. This
program will be used to backup the implementation of several
conservation measures, such as the 6 degree thermostat reduc-
tion you announced in your address last week. It will be
published in the Federal Register next week, and implemented
as soon as possible thereafter. Several issues yet to be
addressed will be discussed at Wednesday's meeting including
transportation problems and the need to develop a control
mechanism for moving large quantities of oil in adjustment
to climatic conditions.
Oil Exports
It was decided that future U.S. oil exports would be limited
Reproduced at Richard Nixon Presidential Library
4
through either the present mandatory oil allocation program
or the new legislation to insure that they do not rise above
FY 72 levels (less than two-tenths of one per cent of total
petroleum consumption). The basis for this decision is that
some of our exports go to countries that are largely net
importers to the U.S. (e.g., Canada, Venezuela, etc.). If
we cut off our exports to them, retaliation could hurt our
net petroleum situation. Commerce, in conjunction with
Interior, will work out the details of implementing this
decision.
Publication of Oil Import Information
It was decided that in the future, the detailed information
on imports of petroleum by country should not be published.
The total import figures will continue to be available. This
is to protect countries who do not wish to participate in
the embargo.
Next Steps
At the next meeting, now scheduled for Wednesday, 2 p.m.,
the following will be addressed:
-- problems involved with utilities switching from coal
to residual fuel oil,
-- steps needed to insure the shift in the refining mix
does not run counter economically to refinery profitability,
and
-- further steps to be taken in the areas of emergency
conservation.
If you agree with these actions, I recommend we conduct a
press briefing as soon as possible.
Agree
Disagree
CC: Energy Emergency Action Group
Amended
Reproduced at Richard Nixon Presidential Library
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
November 21, 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR:
THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
JOHN A. LOVE Clasm JAL
SUBJECT:
Energy Emergency Action Group
Meeting, November 21, 1973
At Wednesday's meeting of the EEAG, the following unanimous
recommendations were made:
(1) Activation of National Defense Executive Reserve
To partially activate the National Defense Executive
Reserve -- an organization of selected executive reserv-
ists to aid in implementing the mandatory allocation
program and other programs directly related to the current
crisis. This decision will be implemented by the
Department of the Interior.
Agree
Disagree
(2) Civil Aviation
To announce, effective in December, a decision to
phase in a 15% reduction of jet fuel below 1972 consump-
tion levels for civil aviation rather than delaying the
reduction until January 1974. Departments of Interior
and Transportation, in coordination with the Civil
Aeronautics Board will administer this decision. In
addition, it was decided to develop a program for equitably
sharing the burden between U.S. and foreign countries in
fueling the international airlines.
Agree
Disagree
Reproduced at Richard Nixon Presidential Library
2
(3) General Aviation
To press through voluntary means for the following
percentage cutbacks in general aviation fuel consumption:
a. 20 percent reduction in agricultural, cargo
and air taxis.
b. 40 percent for business flying.
C. 50 percent reduction in personal pleasure
and instructional flying.
Agree
Disagree
(4) Uranium Enrichment
To authorize temporary diversions on a case by case
basis of up to 1400 megawatts of power from AEC Uranium
Enrichment facilities for the following purposes:
a. To substitute for utilities temporarily
shutdown during conversion from oil to
coal use.
b. To supplement inadequate electric power
capacity where no other alternative source
exists and conservation measures are unable
to sufficiently reduce demand.
Agree
Disagree
(5) Mandatory Allocation Act
The Committee unanimously recommends that mandatory
allocation act recently passed by Congress be signed into
law Tuesday of next week. There will be some difficulty
in meeting the time restraints for setting up the gasoline
allocation and crude oil programs. However, the Committee
believes these problems can be overcome. You will receive
the normal enrolled bill memorandum from OMB on this
subject.
Agree
Disagree
Reproduced at Richard Nixon Presidential Library
- 3 -
(6) Federally Imposed Speed Limits
There was divergence of opinion regarding the
imposition of a mandatory federal speed limit. At least
six states have responded to your request to impose speed
limit regulations. These range from 50 to 55 mph with
some states granting exceptions on interstate highways.
Two options were discussed:
a. Secretary Brinegar, Secretary Morton, Mr.
Flanagan and myself recommend a national
speed limit of 55 mph for all vehicles to
be imposed when the emergency legislation
is signed.
b. Secretary Dent, Deputy Secretary Simon,
General Scowcroft and Budget Director Ash
and Deputy Secretary Clements recommend the
50 mph speed limit for automobiles but
allowing a 55 mph limit for trucks and
interstate buses.
The 55 mph exception for trucks and buses is designed
to avoid certain problems associated with imposing an
across the board 50 mph speed limit. These include:
1. A reopening of wage contracts by the Teamsters
who would suffer wage losses with a 50 mph
speed limit.
2. Department of Transporation data shows that
buses and trucks are more efficient at 55 mph
than 50 mph. The dual system will not create
serious safety problems.
Approve option a
Approve option b
The EEAG unanimously agreed that it is important to issue
as soon as possible an approved Administration position
on the details of the energy shortage and a broad strategy
for meeting the shortages. It should be made clear that
this strategy is subject to continuing revision, and that
specific actions to implement the strategy will be
announced over the coming weeks. Herb Stein and Roy Ash
Reproduced at Richard Nixon Presidential Library
- 4 -
and I agree that it is important to help the public assess
the economic consequences of the shortage, and to build
public confidence that we are taking command of the
situation. I recommend that we release the attached
analysis, along with a statement which summarizes and
interprets this analysis. The Council of Economic
Advisors will issue a preliminary assessment of the
impact of our strategy on the economy next week.
The EEAG also recommends that, at the same time, we
announce whatever steps you approve from my memorandum
of November 19 and this memorandum.
Release statement and announce
approved actions
Release statement only
Make no announcements
See Me
Reproduced at Richard Nixon Presidential Library