Message to the Congress Transmitting the Fifth National Energy Policy Plan

To the Congress of the United States:

I am pleased to report to you that the state of our energy health is good, and the prospects for its future promising.

Our energy climate has undergone a remarkable transformation in just five years. Crude oil prices have declined, with savings passed on to consumers. The United States is using energy more productively, and our energy supply is more diversified than ever. Total U.S. energy production is at an unprecedented level, and we are far less vulnerable to disruption of our energy supplies.

Our renewed energy health is a testament to the ingenuity of the American people and the strength of American businesses, large and small. We have rightly placed our trust in our people and the belief that we were not running out of energy, only imagination. We have reduced regulation, wherever and whenever possible. We have placed our confidence in the marketplace, rather than government, to make key economic decisions about energy.

The result is a foundation of energy stability and energy security. We stand at the beginning of a new era of energy strength in which the United States has the resources and capabilities to sustain vigorous economic growth, as well as our important role in the free world.

With this new opportunity, of course, come new challenges. Unless these challenges are met, we may not achieve the energy exploration, technological advance, and conservation improvements this Nation needs. We have more work to do in cutting regulatory barriers, especially natural gas controls, diversifying our resources, and increasing alternate energy sources, which should further reduce our dependence on insecure energy imports. I am submitting the Fifth National Energy Policy Plan, which addresses the job ahead.

We are fortunate we can look forward to the coming era with confidence that we have learned from the lessons of the past and that with new tools and justified belief in the American people, our technology, and free markets, we will meet the energy challenges and opportunities ahead.

RONALD REAGAN

The White House,

March 26, 1986.