The president called on Americans to lower thermostats in their homes, offices and factories by at least 6 degrees Fahrenheit. Anticipating a lukewarm reaction, Nixon tried the following: relieve tension. “By the way, my doctor says I’m much healthier when the temperature is 66-68 degrees (18-20 degrees) than when it’s 75-78 degrees (23-26 degrees). I hope that gives you some peace of mind,” he says.
A month later, when signing annual daylight saving time into law, nixon said Other measures required “inconvenience and sacrifice,” he said. In contrast, he said changing the time would “save an estimated 150,000 barrels of oil per day over the winter, while minimizing inconvenience and ensuring everyone participates equally.”
US fuel pump prices rose 50% over the winter. In the 2009 BBC radio series America: Empire of Freedom, Professor David Reynolds said: “Admittedly, the cost of around 60 cents a gallon was hardly devastating by today’s standards. But for a country that had assumed cheap petrol was America’s birthright, the oil crisis was a huge shock.” Reynolds noted that polls in December detected signs of panic, with people said to fear the country is running out of energy. “Of course this was nonsense,” he said. Still, while domestic production met two-thirds of U.S. demand, the remaining third came primarily from the Middle East, where “soaring prices and public panic sparked a crisis.”
second dark age
Even before the shock of the oil crisis, fuel shortages were already occurring in the United States. Humphreys reported in May 1973 that “gasoline is in short supply in the world’s most fuel-hungry country.” To add color, the report includes a snippet of an ad for former US oil giant Amoco presented by Johnny Cash, who said: “It’s hard to believe that there is an energy crisis in this great country of ours, but it is happening.” The country star urged motorists to slow down to save petrol. “Once we get there, there will be more gas for everyone,” he promised. In another ad for Amoco, he spoke of “the new pioneering, conservationist spirit in America today.”
Mr. Cash’s message to lower temperatures by 6 degrees at home and slow down on the highways was echoed by Mr. Nixon. What the Man in Black’s advertising sermon did not include was daylight savings time throughout the year, a measure that was sure to be unpopular with many of his core audience. Time zones were invented by humans. cattle Not knowing what time it was, another hour of darkness on a winter morning was an added challenge for farmers.
At the time, Nixon was knee-deep in Watergate, but he may have learned from Britain’s experience a few years earlier. At that time, the clocks were normally set forward in the spring of 1968 and were not subsequently set back until the fall of 1971. What remains in my memory is the sight of children wearing fluorescent armbands trudging to school in the dark. While some companies involved in trade with continental Europe appreciated being in the same time zone, the move was not welcomed by companies that had to work outdoors. The far north of Scotland was the least popular, with some people having to wait until 9.45am for their first glimpse of the winter sun.
Source: BBC Culture – www.bbc.com
