[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 20 (Monday, May 21, 2001)]
[Pages 747-748]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

May 12, 2001

    Good morning. I wish every mother listening a happy Mother's Day, 
including my own. And I want to remind every daughter and every son to 
tell Mom first thing tomorrow how much you love her.
    Today I want to talk about how we can meet some of our energy needs 
through a new kind of conservation, a 21st century conservation that 
saves power through technological innovation. We are near the beginning 
of the summer driving and air conditioning season, the months of the 
year when energy use rises and energy prices jump. This year, like last 
year, gasoline and electricity prices are rising sharply, squeezing 
family budgets, and disrupting the lives and work of our fellow 
Americans. Energy is a problem that my administration will address.
    This week we will introduce a comprehensive energy plan to help 
bring new supplies of energy to the market, and we will be encouraging 
Americans to use more wisely the energy supplies that exist today.
    I am very concerned about the possibility of blackouts in California 
this summer. My administration will do our part to help by cutting peak 
hour energy use at Federal facilities in California. Military 
installations will reduce their peak hour use by 10 percent. Civilian 
buildings will raise their thermostats and turn off escalators and other 
nonessential equipment. These are immediate measures to help with an 
immediate problem, and I applaud the many Californians and Americans who 
are finding their own ways to use less energy this summer.
    Over the long term, the most effective way to conserve energy is by 
using energy more efficiently. For example, a new refrigerator uses 65 
percent less power than a refrigerator built in 1972. Overall, we use 40 
percent less energy to produce new goods and services than we did in 
1973.
    Some think that conservation means doing without. That does not have 
to be the case. It can mean building sensors into new buildings to shut 
the lights off as soon as people leave a room. It can mean upgrading the 
transmission lines that deliver electricity to your home so less is 
wasted on the way. It can mean encouraging homeowners to invest in 
energy improvements.
    Twenty-first century conservation harnesses new technology to 
squeeze as much out of a barrel of oil as we have learned to squeeze out 
of a computer chip. We can raise our standard of living wisely and in 
harmony with our environment.
    Pushing conservation forward will require investment in new energy 
technology, and that will be a part of my administration's energy plan. 
Conservation will require improving appliance standards. That will also 
be a part of the plan. And conservation will require new incentives to 
encourage industry to replace outdated equipment. That will be a part of 
the plan, as well.
    But conservation will require one more thing, something that cannot 
be written into any plan: the problem solving spirit of the American 
scientist and the American entrepreneur. My administration will take 
their side as they conserve and expand our energy supply for the benefit 
of all Americans.
    Thank you very much for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 9 a.m. on May 11 in the Cabinet Room 
at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on May 12. The transcript 
was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary at 7 a.m. on May 
12 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The Office of the 
Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of this 
address.

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