At the end of the environmental decade, in 1977 President Carter announced a new energy plan, which provided many features such as reducing gas consumption, reduce energy demand, increase coal production, cut oil imports, and increase use of alternate energy such as solar. Another key part of his plan was to increase the use of renewable energy by 20% by 2000. A few months later, the Department of Energy (DOE) was established. Its main focus was to create a comprehensive national energy plan and take on accountability for long-term research, technological development, energy regulation, nuclear weapons, and energy data collection and analysis. In 1978 The Energy Tax Act was created. It provided an incentive for ethanol use, and the following