President Carter told a nationwide television audience last night that dealing with the nation's energy crisis requires a collective effort that is "the moral equivalent of war."

Stressing energy conservation rather than stepped-up production as his predecessors have done. Carter said he hopes to limit overall energy consumption increases to 2 per cent annually. Such a cutdown would represent a substantial reduction from the present rate of 3.5 to 4 per cent.

Carter's program--which he will outline in detail when he addresses Congress on Wednesday--calls for tax credits for installation of solar heating systems, storm windows, insulation and other energy conserving measures.

Carter said the administration will try to cut demand for gasoline 10 per cent below current levels. He hinted at gasoline tax that would penalize the owners of gas-guzzling cars, saying they "must pay for that luxury."

Careful Planning

Carter also called for a reduction of oil imports from the present nine million barrels a day to about six million barrels daily, the establishment of a strategic petroleum reserve of one billion barrels, and a doubling of coal production to more than one billion tons a year.

"I can't tell you that these measures will be easy or popular," Carter said, adding that the nation "needs efficiency and ingenuity more than ever."

"Suspicions about the oil companies cannot change the fact that we are running out of petroleum," he added.

Without energy conservation and production of other more plentiful energy sources such as coal, the nation faces the constant risk of embargoes, increased unemployment and the jeopardization of U.S. sovereignty, Carter said. He added that "If we fail to act, we will soon face an economic, social, political crisis that will threaten our free institutions."

Carter said the nation's energy problems are worse now than in 1973, when the Arab oil embargo first brought the "energy crisis" to public attention, because supplies are rapidly dwindling and the federal government has not planned for the future.

"With the exception of preventing war, this is the greatest challenge our country will face during our lifetimes. The energy crisis has not yet overwhelmed us, but it will if we do not act quickly," he said.