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> Organization of a Government corporation to help bankroll production of synthetic fuels, such as oil or natural gas manufactured from coal or oil squeezed out of shale rock. Aim:
output of 2 million bbl. per day by 1990, at a cost, the President told one Camp David session, that might run as high as $120 billion.
> Enactment of new tax incentives to encourage pumping of oil and natural gas out of geologic formations that make the extraction of such fuels difficult.
> Encouragement of conservation. One proposal: requiring utilities to install insulation and other fuel-saving materials in customers' homes, for which the customer would pay only when he sold his home.
As a preliminary measure, while still at Camp David, the President ordered thermostats in nonresidential buildings—factories, office towers, stores, discos—set no lower than 78° F in summer and no higher than 65° F in winter.
> A demand to Congress for presidential authority to ration gasoline. A similar request was voted down in May, but Congress has since felt the wrath of the voters, and would likely grant such powers.
While all these ideas have merit, Congress, which long delayed Carter's energy plans, has now taken the initiative in pushing such measures as synthetic fuels. Carter declares that he does not want to compete against Congress on these issues, and he is still critical of the legislators for sitting on his earlier proposals. Nonetheless, he has a lot of catching up to do in satisfying voter demands for energy action.
That problem of national leadership, far more than any attempt to solicit new policy ideas or even test out presidential proposals on representatives of varied constituencies, was the purpose of the Camp David summit. In large part, the meetings were a quite deliberate — and, aides acknowledged, very risky — attempt to build suspense for the President's speech and energy program by focusing the nation's eyes on Camp David.
The attempt was undertaken in full knowledge that the failure would be all the more resounding if the speech and pro gram turned out to be weak.
The drama began on Wednesday, July 4, when Carter read the original energy speech that his aides had written. He judged it good, he said (though at least one White House insider openly called it terrible), but he decided, after talking to Rosalynn, that the nation would not pay attention. It would be just another energy talk, and he felt he had to speak to broader national concerns. Carter canceled the speech and, while reporters were trying to find out what on earth he was doing on the If mountain, summoned his senior staff to Camp David. He said later that he already had the idea of the summit in S mind, though at that point he had discussed it only with his wife.