I am deeply concerned about the human suffering and economic problems being caused by the energy shortages.
To help deal with these problems, I would appreciate your providing me specific information on energy related problems in your state, and your views as to how these problems could be mitigated or resolved. I have asked Jack Watson, Secretary to the Cabinet and the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations, to coordinate the efforts of an interagency group that will collect such information and oversee the federal response to this serious problem.
Please telegraph your response att: Jack Watson/Coordinating Group/White House, D.C.
JIMMY CARTER
Note: This is the text of identical telegrams sent to the Governors of Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The text of the telegram was made available by the White House Press Office on January 30. It was not issued in the form of a White House press release.
Jimmy Carter, Natural Gas Emergency Text of a Telegram to the Governors of 12 States. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/243032