A Crisis of Confidence – What if?

Just over thirty years ago, then President Jimmy Carter spoke directly to the nation in the hope of combating the energy crisis and reducing Americas dependence on Foreign oil in the so called “Malaise” Speech. So my question is,

What would 2009 look like if the policies Jimmy Carter had set out had been implemented? Or similar policies?

Examples of policies outlined in the speech include, reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil by setting the goal of by the end of the 1980s to save over four and a half million barrels of imported oil per day, setting import quotas for oil, massive investment in alternative sources of fuel such as “from coal, from oil shale, from plant products for gasohol, from unconventional gas, from the sun”, the creation of an energy security corporation, a solar bank aiming to have 20% of America’s energy from the sun by 2000 and a windfall profits tax to pay for some of it etc.

Now I don’t know if this is ASB or a possible What if? However if such policies and the others Carter envisioned did become a reality, how would America look in 2009, compared to the current 2009?

Thanks.
 
Well, we'd likely be caring less about the Middle East, more about domestic social welfare, and probably a whole lot more about cleaning up the legacy of the industrial revolution (as someone who lives 50 miles from the Berkelely Pit, this I can definitely rejoice about).

The bigger question is how
 
It wouldn't work. Nuclear power is much more economical. Solar panels then were alot more inefficient compared to now, and even with government subsides now, it takes five-ten years to recoup the costs for solar panels.

Although if it did work, it'd accelerate Soviet collapse since they depended on high oil prices.
 
It could happen if you have Carter slip by Reagan in 1980...maybe combine the two not being able to agree on having a debate (they almost didn't) and the hostages being released in late October. That should be enough to give Carter a nailbiting victory in the closest election since Nixon-Kennedy.

The Democrats will keep control of the House and Senate, with reasonable margins in each (close in the House, though). They might lose the House in 1982, but when the economy rallies starting in 1983, Carter's stock will probably start to soar, and the Dems could win again in 1984. From there...you've got a significantly stronger Democratic Party, and less anti-government feeling. The Reagan Revolution has never happened. Who knows what happens next?
 
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