o i l & G a s
NEWSUNDAY MISSOURIAN
’70s
l The Concorde makes its first supersonic flight.
l Paul McCartney annouces the breakup of the Beatles.
l The Vietnam War ends when all parties to conflict sign final agreement in Paris.
CITY LIMITS
1970s
CITY
BREAKDOWN
55,804 people reside within
■
December 18, 2005 — 13A
1970 GAS PRICE
A call for conservation
Columbia
Population
the city limits.
1
Leaded Regular
55,804
$0 3 6
(Adjusted for inflation: $1.81)
BUYING A BARREL
197 0
2 miles
1970s city limits
Current city limits
Average
income2
Source: CityFamily
of Columbia
$18,784
JAMIE NADOLNY/Missourian
(Adjusted for inflation $50,349)
Number of Schools3
16 elementary schools, 3 junior
high schools, 2 high schools
Top 5 exporters to the U.S
(Thousands of barrels per
day in 1970)
How homes were heated4
1) Venezuela (989)
Natural Gas 55.2
2) Canada (766)
Oil 26.0
USE
3) Persian Gulf Nations (121)
Electricity 7.7
Liquefied Petroleum 6.0
Coal 2.9
Wood 1.3
None 0.6
Other 0.4
1 Population is average for the decade.
2 1980 census figures for 1979.
3 Number of schools is for 1970.
4 1970 fuel consumption in percent.
Sources: City of Columbia, Missouri Historical Society, U.S. Census Bureau and the
U.S. Energy Information Administration
POP CULTURE
John Travolta
The polyester suit (made with oil
byproducts) was made famous
in the disco era when Travolta
strutted down the street to the
BeeGees’ music in “Saturday Night
Fever.”
“The China Syndrome”
Jane Fonda played a reporter
uncovering the nasty effects of a
nuclear power plant in this film.
The movie was released 13 days
before Pennsylvania’s Three Mile
Island disaster, when a nuclear
power station suffered a core
meltdown. With fierce anti-nuclear
backlash from the public and the
media, America’s nuclear industry
has never recovered.
Lava lamps
Fabulously tacky symbols of this
decade work on the simplest scientific methodology where water
doesn’t mix with oil (the thicker bit).
Still loved by hippies and students.
Associated Press
President Carter appears in a pensive mood during an interview in the Oval Office of the
White House, Jan. 24, 1977, before starting his first full work week as president.
Saving fuel
T
he decade when a sweater, and its message, shocked
a nation out of its comfort zone.
In April 1977, Jimmy Carter defied presidential
broadcasting protocol and spoke to the nation not wearing a
traditional sharp suit but a sweater to prove a point — conserve energy, use less fuel and — presumably — dress warmer.
The 10 principles outlined in the speech
(and his sweater) urged Americans to think
responsibly, consume wisely and turn down
their thermostats to avoid a fuel crisis.
“It was one thing for him to appear in a
sweater on TV and to tell Americans to throttle down their thermostats, but it was another
thing for him to lecture them and tell adult
voters they needed to cut back,” said John
Bullion, professor of American history at MU.
“Carter has a knack for appearing to lecture,
not like a professor, but like a parent.”
“Ours is the most wasteful nation on earth.
We waste more energy than we import,” said
Carter, addressing publicly the country’s
first energy crisis.
Carter installed solar paneling in the
White House roof, and many Columbia residents followed his good example.
“When the winter came, I would wash the
windows and put plastic over them to conserve energy,” recalls Vicky Smith, a Columbia resident since the 1970s.
The fly in America’s ointment and catalyst
for the energy crisis: 20 years of over-consumption, fast growth and a decrease in
efficiency coupled with a huge international
blow: the Arab oil embargo that took place
earlier in the decade.
The Organization for Petroleum Exporting
Countries, or OPEC, refused petroleum to
those nations that supported Israel during
the Yom Kippur War.
In a bid to keep control and stabilize the
economy and avert a bigger crisis, the U.S.
government began setting price controls,
limiting the cost of “old oil” — oil already
discovered — in a bid to allow new discoveries of oil wells and sell new oil at higher
prices.
The speed limit was lowered to 55 mph
from 75 to 80 mph depending on the region
and an unusual system was set up to help
ease pressure at the pumps. Drivers with
license plates ending in odd numbers could
get gas only on odd numbered days and those
ending in even numbers on even days.
“Stations closed on the weekends, and
there would be great long lines on Fridays,
even though it was expensive and you still
couldn’t even get it,” said Val German, a
Columbia resident originally from Carrollton. “Gas became such an issue that
you couldn’t even take trips without really
thinking about whether it was worth it. The
major effect was the inconvenience of it and
the uncertainty of what was going to happen
next.”
SOUND FAMILIAR? Energy conservation
Today we are encouraged to consider our
fuel consumption and to look to alternatives
because of the fluctuating and sky-rocketing
prices of gas at the pumps. Heating bills are
more expensive this year than last and insta-
bility in the Middle East has led to a precarious relationship with the oil-rich region and
forced industries to look to alternative sources such as solar energy, which is a renewable
energy source.
4) Nigeria (50)
5) Mexico (42)
Total imports 3,419
Total OPEC 1,343
ON
POSS
SECO
CHO
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration
POLITICS
’70s stagflation
Politically the ’70s was an
era of conflict and change. The
Vietnam War raged on and continued to divide the nation, even
after American military participation in the war was over.
The Paris Peace Accords were
signed in January 1973. This
was the decade the Supreme
Court case Roe v. Wade legalized abortion. It was also the
decade when crime increased to
an incredible level, despite Nixon’s pledge to increase order in
his presidency. Repercussions of
the ’60s were still being felt. The
strongest wave rippled with the
passage of the Immigration Act
in 1965, leading to an increased
number of immigrants in the
U.S. and forcing the government
to disfavor western Europeans
from easy immigration status
to curb the swell. However, the
tightening of immigration didn’t
spill over to migrants from
Third World countries who were
still allowed into the country in
search of a better life.
Nixon’s fear of impeachment
following the Watergate scandal led to his resignation, and
Gerald Ford stepped into the
president’s seat.
Jimmy Carter held the presidential office from 1977 to 1981.
The 1970s were a time for environmental legislation. Carter,
like Johnson and Nixon before
him, and many Americans, was
interested in clean air and clean
water, but also faced the inevitable — America’s insatiable
appetite for gasoline.
There was stagflation, a period of economic stagnation and
inflation. To combat the issues
of stagflation and oil crisis Carter wanted Americans to consider changing their lifestyles and
to consume less.