NBC Nightly News open - 1977-05-16

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:03] This is NBC Nightly News with John

[0:05] Chancellor and David Brinkley.

[0:08] Tonight, Monday, May 16th, reported from

[0:10] the NBC News Center in New York.

[0:14] Good evening.

[0:15] John Chancellor is off tonight. He'll be

[0:17] back Thursday.

[0:19] A big helicopter bringing people in from

[0:21] New York's Kennedy Airport crashed

[0:24] coming in to a landing this evening on

[0:26] the roof of the Pan American building in

[0:28] the center of Manhattan, 59 stories

[0:31] high. At least five people were killed

[0:34] and many more were injured. The

[0:36] helicopter's landing gear collapsed

[0:38] apparently and it rolled over.

[0:40] Parts of the machine fell into the

[0:42] street killing one man and injuring

[0:44] several others.

[0:45] Helicopter service to the top of the

[0:47] building had been stopped for 9 years,

[0:49] but earlier this year it was resumed.

[0:54] A new report, a little scary, says the

[0:56] world could begin running out of oil in

[0:58] 1981, 4 years from now. And it says even

[1:02] with the most rigid conservation, there

[1:04] will be severe shortages by the end of

[1:06] this century, 23 years.

[1:09] Then it says the competition between

[1:11] countries for energy to run their

[1:13] societies could even lead to war.

[1:15] The study was made by experts from 15

[1:18] countries sponsored by the Massachusetts

[1:20] Institute of Technology.

[1:22] And while we have had gloomy forecasts

[1:24] before, we've had none as bad as this.

[1:27] A hearing on some parts of the Kennedy

[1:29] of the Carter energy program in Congress

[1:32] today. Here's Irving R. Levine in

[1:34] Washington.

[1:37] Members of the House Ways and Means

[1:38] Committee were kept waiting 30 minutes

[1:40] for Treasury Secretary Blumenthal to

[1:42] arrive because he had the wrong time on

[1:45] his schedule. And from then on, it was

[1:48] all downhill for Secretary Blumenthal.

[1:51] Both Republicans and Democrats at the

[1:53] committee hearing, which was closed to

[1:55] cameras, found fault with the main tax

[1:58] features of President Carter's energy

[2:00] program. They told Secretary Blumenthal

[2:03] that the government rebate for people

[2:05] who buy small gas-efficient cars might

[2:08] mostly benefit foreign manufacturers and

[2:11] throw Americans out of work. Another

[2:13] point, Democrat Cotter of Connecticut,

[2:16] the gasoline tax doesn't stand a

[2:18] snowball's chance in hell of passing.

[2:21] Democrat Burleson of Texas, the program

[2:24] lacks incentives for new oil

[2:26] exploration.

[2:27] Democrat Carman of California, the

[2:30] program is not tough enough on

[2:32] gas-guzzling cars. Republican Duncan of

[2:35] Tennessee, it will create a big new

[2:37] expensive bureaucracy.

[2:39] Afterwards, Secretary Blumenthal said he

[2:42] was not discouraged by the sniping at

[2:44] the president's program. I think you

[2:47] have to remember that these members of

[2:48] Congress have 5 minutes uh in which to

[2:51] ask questions and that they naturally

[2:53] concentrate on those parts