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EPA and energy crisis
Q: During your tenure at EPA, as an Assistant Administrator, the energy crisis had a great impact on the American people and the Federal Government. How did that crisis affect the agency and your work there?
MR. ALM: Well, I don't think it affected us profoundly. In 1973/1974, Arab oil embargo required us to pay attention to coal use. EPA took some leadership in the coal conversion program attempting to help the Federal Energy Administration shift private utility power plants from oil to coal. Other than that, it did not greatly change our life at EPA.
Q: Do you think EPA changed the life of the nation during that period of time?
MR. ALM: No. I do not think so.
It depends on what you mean, "that period of time." In 1973/1974, the U.S. experienced gasoline lines and severe economic shock. The Iranian shortfall in 1978/79 caused similar problems. Energy was most prominently a public policy problem from 1973-1981. It could become a major problem in the future as U.S. imports continue to rise and domestic oil production falls.
At that time in EPA, we developed an energy policy capability. I brought over a fellow named Walt Barber from OMB to run this program. We worked to develop various government positions on energy conservation. We were in favor of legislation creating the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. We supported the Ford Energy Plan, particularly natural gas price deregulation and conservation measures. I was personally invited to the Camp David planning meeting that led to the development of the Ford Energy Plan.
In 1977, with the beginning of the Carter administration, people felt that the nation was facing a major energy problem. I went to work with Jim Schlesinger in the White House to oversee the development of Carter's energy program. The perspectives I had gained at EPA played a role in the kind of energy plan we put together.
Q: What perspectives did you gain at EPA that affected the energy policies that you helped draft for the Ford and Carter Administrations?
MR. ALM: Well, what I gained in being at CEQ and in EPA, first of all, was the ability to know how to put something like this together and to relate one piece of a system to another. Obviously, you bring to anything certainly an amount of sensitivity. When I was at EPA, I had concluded that the country would be better off both environmentally and economically if oil and gas prices were decontrolled. And we were actually supportive of decontrolling energy prices. As a historical aside, I am the only person who has participated in the development of the Ford Energy Policy at Camp David and later played a major role with the Carter energy plan.
Jimmy Carter came in as a pro-environmental president, so there was no doubt that from the very beginning he wanted an energy policy that was protective of the environment. And considering my experience at EPA and my other experiences I think I had a general idea how one could work in environmental considerations into an energy plan.