Proclamation 6830

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Although we tend to focus on energy issues only in times of crisis, Americans should not underestimate the daily impact of a clean, safe, affordable energy supply on maintaining our standard of living, protecting the environment, and ensuring our national defense. In the past 3 decades alone, disruptions in global oil markets and dramatic price shocks have caused international strife and economic recession. Energy choices affect air and water pollution; nuclear, toxic, and other waste disposal present potential hazards; and energy use can influence our precious wilderness and natural ecosystems.

As we observe Energy Awareness Month, 1995, this year's theme, "Energy Fuels Our Future," is a powerful reminder of the need to build a strong foundation of sustainable energy policies that will benefit the generations to come. We can be proud of the United States' efforts toward this end. In every critical sector of society-commercial and residential development, transportation, industry, utility management, and government-we have improved efficiency and reduced the environmental impact of energy production and consumption.

Our challenge today is to continue this work, and my Administration remains committed to the responsible use of existing resources and the progress of innovative technology. We have many objectives-enhancing the competitiveness of our Nation's oil producers, expanding the role of domestically produced natural gas, encouraging the development of renewable energy resources, minimizing the environmental impact of coal use, and supervising the safe contribution of nuclear energy. As we seek to strengthen our economy and ease the burden of energy use on the global environment, let us work together toward these vital goals.

Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 1995 as "Energy Awareness Month." I call upon government officials, educators, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate activities recognizing the central importance of energy use in our lives and to the future of our world.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twentieth.

William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:32 p.m., October 4, 1995]