[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 101 (Wednesday, June 18, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5746-S5747]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                IDAHOANS SPEAK OUT ON HIGH ENERGY PRICES

  Mr. CRAPO. Madam President, a day or so ago, I asked Idahoans to 
share with me how high energy prices are affecting their lives, and 
they responded by the hundreds. The stories, now numbering close to 
800, are heartbreaking and touching. It is not just filling the tank; 
these high energy prices touch every aspect of our lives--family time, 
food prices, work commutes, the list goes on and on. Many Idahoans have 
taken efforts to cut back on the niceties to accommodate the 
necessities, but now far too many face the choice of which necessity to 
ignore--gas or food, job or family. For years, Congress has 
unsuccessfully grappled with a national energy policy; now we are at a 
point where decisions must be made, compromises must be negotiated if 
we are to finally be forward-thinking. This isn't only a question of 
what we are handing future generations; it's affecting families right 
here, right now. It is not just Idahoans. It is an issue that touches 
the live of every single American, no matter their socioeconomic 
status.
  In an effort to seek solutions rather than focus only on the trouble, 
I have also asked Idahoans to share how they want Congress to resolve 
it, and the suggestions are voluminous and wide-ranging. Some start 
simply with conservation efforts, something that I have long supported, 
while others encourage increased offshore oil drilling and increased 
domestic production, more sustainable alternative and renewable energy 
sources, stronger support for nuclear energy options and more efficient 
transportation options. Nearly all have expressed concerns for not just 
their future, but for the future of their children and grandchildren. 
And they are adamant about Congress moving beyond half-truths and 
partisan politics to find solutions. While I may differ in my opinions 
on some suggestions, I am thrilled that so many have taken time to 
share their thoughts with me. Some have shared research, videos and 
book recommendations. To respect that effort, I plan on submitting 
every e-mail sent to me through energy [email protected] to the 
Congressional Record. And to keep attention on this matter, I will be 
submitting them a few at a time every day until every one has been 
submitted. This is not an issue that will be easily resolved, but it is 
one that deserves immediate and serious attention. I plan to continue 
working to find other ways to bring these stories to the attention of 
my colleagues in Congress. Today, I am starting this process with the 
following comments from Idahoans.
  I ask unanimous consent to print in the Record comments from 
Idahoans.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Dear Senator Crapo, I am very interested in the debate 
     concerning rude oil and energy prices. I am a wheat farmer by 
     profession and have been excited about the increased wheat 
     prices, however, all of the input costs have significantly 
     increased due to the fact that all inputs have either direct 
     or indirect links to the price of crude oil. Freight costs 
     have significantly increased across the board. Manufacturing 
     costs for steel have soared, partly due to the energy costs. 
     Pivot prices have increased by 20% this year and are expected 
     to significantly increase next year also. Fertilizer prices, 
     which were already unrealistically high last year have 
     tripled from last year's prices. Although the price of wheat 
     will likely be more than commensurate with the input costs 
     this year, if commodity prices fall before the decline of 
     input prices, (including and especially energy prices) 
     farmers throughout the country will be in serious trouble.
       In addition to the difficulties associated with farm input 
     prices, my family's household income has not increased in 
     proportion to the costs of household goods such as food, 
     clothing, and family items. The relief check from the 
     government will not come close to compensating for increased 
     pricing, and will also decrease the value of the dollar and 
     hence cause more inflated pricing, as well as increase our 
     national debt.
       Most Americans would agree that caring for our environment 
     is important, however, a relatively small group of radical 
     environmentalists have been using their screaming lobby to 
     set policies which are extremely detrimental to the economy 
     as well as the environment. How is it that oil drilled from 
     the Middle East and freighted across the ocean is less 
     harmful to ``mother earth'' than drilling in a single square 
     mile in Alaska? I am adamantly opposed to the idea that we 
     should be dependant upon the Middle East for oil when we have 
     enough to last for at least one hundred years in reserve here 
     in the United States. We are likely to have alternative 
     technology to decrease our demand upon oil and most likely 
     oil will be obsolete as an energy source within less than 50 
     years. Please listen to the less vocal majority who are 
     pleading for drastically decreasing the restrictions and 
     regulations on drilling and refining our domestic oil.
           Sincerely,
     Lloyd Ward.
                                  ____

       Dear Mike Crapo, We live on Robie Creek out side of Boise. 
     My husband commutes to Nampa 2 days a week to work. We are 
     also Ushers for Boise State University and have to commute to 
     Boise for work. With the increase in Gas Price, our fuel 
     costs have risen 148.00 in the past three months. It was 
     already way to expensive. We are in our 70's so this is a 
     hardship for us.
       John McCain stating he will not drill in Alaska makes me so 
     mad. I live next door to a lady who spent years in Barrow and 
     the North Slope of Alaska. She said drilling would not hurt 
     anything because there is nothing there. I have suggested Mr. 
     McCain make a trip and check this out personally instead of 
     listening to the environmentalist who has put us in this 
     position in the first place along with the Socialist who want 
     this country destroyed. I also think it is a shame to listen 
     to the Stupid people who are costing us Billions to prevent 
     global warming. The last I knew, God was in-charge and has 
     been thru thousands of years of climate change. Who is going 
     to pay back the tax payers when this is proven to be a 
     political sham?
       It would be so refreshing if we the people could ever get 
     the truth about anything and have all of the agenda bleeped 
     out.
     Bess, Boise.
                                  ____

       Dear Senator Crapo: We have noticed a big difference in 
     prices in the past year. Instead of taking two vehicles to 
     work five days a week, my husband and I have traveled 
     together this past year to save on the gas. We leave our home 
     in Firth, (our work hours are different), and he drops me off 
     at work and travels to the other side of Idaho Falls to get 
     to his job. I stay at work during the lunch hour and an extra 
     hour after work until he comes to pick me up at night.
       It used to cost us $320.00 a month one year ago taking two 
     vehicles to work. Now with one vehicle we are spending a 
     minimum of $340.00 just to get to work.
       We also have the added concern of my husband's elderly 
     parents. They will need our help more and we try to go see 
     them once a month. We are spending $100.00 per trip to get 
     from Firth to Wendell and back.
       1. Why isn't anyone concerned about the high oil 
     consumption of container ships that bring goods from other 
     countries?
       2. Why are we allowing China and other countries to drill 
     off of our shores when we can't drill off Florida?
       3. What about all the wells that were drilled and capped in 
     the Western Wyoming area and other areas of the U.S.?
       4. Why are we not pushing harder for nuclear energy and 
     other options and also expanding refinery capacity that could 
     free us from dependence on other nations? They have us under 
     their thumbs.
       5. Why are the minority environmentalists controlling so 
     much of our lives? We believe they are not being realistic 
     and subjecting us to other nations' whims. Global warming, it 
     snowed here last week, second week of June. Where is the 
     global warming? There is more global warming controlled by 
     the sun and not man. The earth has always had ups and downs 
     in its weather patterns. Why doesn't anybody ask an 
     environmentalist what they live in, what they wear and how 
     they get to their protests? It seems they are protesting 
     everything they use.
       Thank you for work you are doing and asking for our 
     opinions.
     Michael and Susan, Firth.
                                  ____

       Dear Senator Crapo, thank your for giving me the 
     opportunity to write to you on this issue and also for your 
     efforts on our behalf.
       I have a PhD in Aerospace Engineering and more than thirty 
     years experience.
       I can only address the engineering aspects of this 
     question, not the political aspects, though I am afraid that 
     the problem is largely a political and psychological one, not 
     a technical one.
       The technological facts are these: We can have energy 
     independence and a 75% reduction in air pollution at the same 
     time and it

[[Page S5747]]

     wouldn't cost the taxpayers a dime. In order to achieve this 
     we would have to convert our power generation from fossil 
     fuel to nuclear and hydroelectric, and switch to electric 
     cars, trucks and trains. The technology for this exists now, 
     although some of it is still in the laboratory. What is 
     preventing its implementation is government regulation.
       After World War II, the utilities put forward a plan to 
     convert all of this country's power generation to nuclear and 
     hydroelectric. The plan was eminently feasible, but was 
     blocked by government regulation. During the 1970s, congress 
     passed what was popularly know as the ``small hydro bill''.
       This excellent piece of legislation sought to encourage 
     cities and towns to take advantage of their local rivers and 
     streams to generate power. This would have given local 
     communities a reliable source of clean, low cost power, and 
     reduced the need for long distance transmission lines and 
     dependence on the grid. Implementation of this plan was 
     blocked by the environmentalists.
       Solar energy and wind power are not practical alternatives.
       Nuclear power is safe. In more than fifty years of 
     generating power in this country, not a single person has 
     ever been killed or injured by a nuclear accident. So far as 
     I am aware, not a single person has ever been killed or 
     injured by a nuclear power plant with its reactor in a 
     containment building. The accident at Chernobyl was possible 
     only because the reactors there were not housed in a 
     containement building.
       Nuclear power is inexpensive. What is making nuclear power 
     plants expensive is excessive and irrational government 
     regulation, based not on sound science and engineering, but 
     on a desire to appease the environmentalists. This was true 
     as far back as 1967. The effect of this government regulation 
     is not to make nuclear power plants safer, but to make them 
     impossible.
       Government regulation, especially NHTSA, is preventing 
     entrepreneurs from making electric cars. There is not a 
     single company manufacturing electric cars in this country 
     for sale to the public. That is a disgrace. The FMVSS 
     (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) are nonsensical 
     gibberish. NHTSA needs to be abolished and the politicians 
     and the bureaucrats need to stop interfering in car design.
       In summary, the whole huge body of excessive, irrational 
     government regulation which has piled up over that last 60 
     years needs to be repealed.
       Government is the problem. The solution is for government 
     to get out of the way.
           Most respectfully yours,
     Stefan, PhD (aerospace engineering).
                                  ____

       Senator Crapo, I couldn't possibly disagree w/you more with 
     respect to the current energy situation. I think that the 
     high prices for gas/diesel that we're experiencing are a 
     necessary evil. It is time for this entire country, but our 
     politicians in Washington (yes, this means you!) especially, 
     to wake up & realize that the amount of petroleum on this 
     planet based is finite. The current problem with prices 
     should not be dealt w/by some half-assed politically 
     motivated Band-Aid.
       The United States has a chance to be at the forefront of 
     research into whatever technology will ultimately replace 
     petroleum-based energy. Rather than subsidizing ethanol 
     production from corn (absolutely no advantage in terms of use 
     of petroleum--it's merely at a different phase of 
     production), why not step up to the plate & provide 
     incentives for research into alternative energy. Instead of 
     the U.S. depending on foreign oil, why not make the rest of 
     the world dependent on U.S. company patents for whatever 
     ultimately replaces petroleum as the leading energy 
     technology?
           Thanks for listening,
     Todd, Boise.
                                  ____

       Dear Mike, We appreciate this opportunity to share with you 
     how energy prices are affecting us and hope this will help 
     you convince your colleagues that something needs to be done 
     NOW!!
       We are farmers in southern Idaho. We are helping to keep 
     this country fed. It is 40 miles to our nearest town where we 
     shop for all our needs--from groceries to supplies to run the 
     farm. Our fuel is delivered from 40 miles away as well. We 
     have no public transportation to rely on so we have no choice 
     but to keep driving our vehicles to supply our needs and to 
     try to conserve where we can. Just today, we had to drive 90 
     miles one way to obtain a repair part for our hay harvesting 
     equipment. That trip cost us nearly twice what it would have 
     cost this time last year. Diesel for our tractors is nearly 
     $5.00/gallon. If Congress doesn't act now, this country is 
     going to wake up to food shortages because we won't be able 
     to afford to keep filling our fuel tanks to keep the food 
     pipeline full. Trucks won't be able to afford to keep 
     transporting food to the stores and one day in the not too 
     distant future, the store shelves will be empty. What will 
     Congress do then about the riots and other violence that will 
     result? We want our energy companies to drill for oil NOW, 
     both on and off shore! We want our energy companies to drill 
     in ANWR, NOW!!! We want our energy companies to be able to 
     utilize Coal-to-Oil technologies NOW!!! We want to be free of 
     our dependence on the Middle East for our energy needs. If 
     nuclear energy can be utilized safely, let's use it.
       Let's use wind turbines. Let's utilize solar farms on our 
     vast acreages of public lands here in Idaho. We must act 
     before our economy is destroyed. It will take decades to 
     repair the damage if Congress doesn't act NOW!!!!!
       Feel free to share our story.
           Sincerely,
     Kirt and Janet, Malta.
                                  ____

       You've got this one about right.
       Our problems as usual are the result of allowing political 
     expediency to make bad policy.
       We can no longer afford to genuflect at the green altar. By 
     all means let's streamline the approval process for new 
     nuclear plants and begin drilling ASAP in ANWR and off both 
     coasts. THE STATES DO NOT HAVE SOVEREIGNTY OVER THEIR COASTAL 
     WATERS. If the federal government can tie up half of Idaho, 
     it should also be able to approve drilling off the coasts of 
     FL, CA et al.
       In your letter, you skip over another aggravating factor 
     inflicted on our economy by Congress. I refer of course to 
     the ethanol mandate. The primaries are over. Iowa has once 
     again been shamelessly pandered to. Repeal the ethanol 
     mandate, eliminate tariffs on imported (Brazilian sugar 
     based) ethanol. Watch fuel and food cost drop simultaneously. 
     This should be a no brainer even for Congress.
     Stu, Donnelly.
                                  ____

       Senator Crapo: I first want to thank you for even being 
     considerate enough to ask my opinion. Not asking constituents 
     is a major problem with our politics these days but that 
     issue is for another email.
       My family is fortunate enough that the rising energy costs 
     are, at this point, a frustrating inconvenience and not a 
     major issue as it is with many. What is of concern to me is 
     our country's willingness to be held hostage by others in the 
     world. We have vast reserves of our own fossil fuel that we 
     refuse to develop in addition to our refusal to develop 
     nuclear energy, wind and solar sources. As I understand it, 
     we do not want to ``damage'' the environment. I don't want to 
     ``damage'' our environment either but GOD has blessed this 
     country with resources and the technology for developing 
     those resources has changed for the better in the last 50 
     years.
       I am also tired of the rhetoric that `in Europe energy 
     costs have been much higher than here for decades'. Well, the 
     plain truth is I don't live in Europe. The USA has been, 
     until outsourcing became our corporate goal, the most 
     advanced, the most productive, the most ingenious, the most 
     prosperous, the most giving nation in ALL of history. 
     Besides, why don't I hear the cost comparison with Venezuela? 
     Gasoline there is $0.25 per gallon. Why don't we become more 
     like them? Not that I would want to, but you get my drift.
       Not to belabor the issue, but the rising cost of energy is 
     only one of the visual symptoms of a much deeper problem. The 
     problem of being stripped of our national identity, of 
     falling victim to the erroneous global warming scam, of the 
     socialist philosophy of wealth distribution, just to mention 
     a few elitist liberal doctrines.
       Anyway, I want to thank you again for your interest in my 
     thoughts. Keep up the good fight.
     Russell, Hayden.
                                  ____

       Fuel prices are devastating every section of our economy. A 
     family reunion trip from Nampa to Seattle and Return in my 
     diesel pickup and camper cost $460 for fuel alone. Idaho 
     Power has implemented two major price increases since the 
     first of the year. Intermountain Gas has raised their price 
     recently by nearly 9 percent. Our food prices are 
     skyrocketing while our government tries to substitute fuel 
     from food for ample resources of energy in the ground we walk 
     on but aren't allowed to drill for.
       Congress and the administration should be ashamed that we 
     are not utilizing safe nuclear energy and expanding use of 
     our coal resources. You (collectively) have stopped the 
     development of nearly all natural resources available to us 
     and also stopped the building of refineries to keep up with 
     the U.S. demand for oil.
       It has made life much tougher for those of us who aren't 
     depending on the public to take care of us.
       Shame on all of you.
     Larry, Nampa.

                          ____________________