45 years ago today, on June 23, 1980 (May 11, 1980 in the lunar calendar), the heads of state of the seven countries were determined to find new energy. The heads of state of the G7 met in Venice on June 23, 1980. During the two-day meeting in Venice, U.S. President Carter and heads of state from other industrial countries had great differences on relevant international issues. But they reached a consensus agreement on energy needs independence. Faced with a sharp rise in OPEC oil prices, leaders said they could reduce oil consumption to 20 million barrels a day by the late 1880s. "We must break the link between economic growth and oil consumption," they said in a joint statement. Carter and leaders from West Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada, and Japan agreed to double coal production and develop more nuclear and integrated energy sources to replace oil. The agreement put Carter at odds with his own Democratic Party. The party had passed a conference decision to "orderly shut down nuclear power plants." On other matters, it is clear that sharp differences have arisen between the United States and some leaders over the Soviet response to the invasion of Afghanistan. In the previous two weeks, Carter's position seemed to have changed. The previous month, he expressed strong dissatisfaction with the meeting in Warsaw between Soviet leader Brezhnev and French President D'Estaing. Carter also expressed doubts that West German Chancellor Schmidt would visit Moscow, saying Western leaders 'interactions with Moscow may help Afghanistan's actions.