[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 8, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6432-S6434]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                IDAHOANS SPEAK OUT ON HIGH ENERGY PRICES

  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, in mid-June, I asked Idahoans to share with 
me how high energy prices are affecting their lives, and they responded 
by the hundreds. The stories, numbering over 1,000, are heartbreaking 
and touching. To respect their efforts, I am submitting every e-mail 
sent to me through [email protected] .gov to the Congressional 
Record. This is not an issue that will be easily resolved, but it is 
one that deserves immediate and serious attention, and Idahoans deserve 
to be heard. Their stories not only detail their struggles to meet 
everyday expenses, but also have suggestions and recommendations as to 
what Congress can do now to tackle this problem and find solutions that 
last beyond today. I ask unanimous consent to have today's letters 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Senator--I am getting sick and tired of hearing from 
     Easterners who live in New York or Washington, DC, and can 
     walk to the corner store and who have mass transit options 
     readily available constantly harping about raising gas prices 
     even higher in order to get people to use less gas. The logic 
     is absolutely heinous.
       We live seven miles east of Mountain Home; we have no other 
     options but to drive to get anywhere, and, if it is snowing 
     real hard, our only option is our supposedly-evil

[[Page S6433]]

     SUV; our other cars won't make it out of our steep driveway. 
     Buying gasoline is not a choice, it is not a luxury--it is a 
     necessity. We've already cut our consumption, we've limited 
     our trips into Boise to the absolute minimum and we even try 
     to consolidate our trips into town as much as possible.
       Any further cuts will require some major changes--the 
     biggest one would be my seriously considering quitting 
     school. I'm currently pursuing my Master's degree in History 
     at BSU, I hope to graduate in May--but if gas prices go up to 
     the eight or ten dollars a gallon that I've heard many of the 
     so-called environmentalists advocate, I won't be able to 
     continue driving up to Boise three to four times a week. We 
     also have to limit our driving to one trip to Mountain Home 
     each day to my husband's office in our most gas-efficient 
     vehicle, and none on the weekends. If that means that one of 
     us has to sit around for hours waiting for the other one so 
     be it. Our trips to the base to the Commissary and BX will 
     have to be made in conjunction with a workday trip in to 
     town, and we may stop making them altogether unless they were 
     in conjunction with a trip to the hospital--the savings would 
     probably be outweighed by the gas costs.
       Moving is not an option--my husband and I are both Air 
     Force retirees who invested our savings, an immense amount of 
     sweat equity, and a lot of love in our ultimate dream house 
     on a beautiful lot on forty acres. This is our home. We love 
     living in the country the same way many people love living in 
     the city. They have their rapid transit that is highly 
     subsidized by the government; why are we paying for their 
     lifestyle so that they can play holier than thou and harp 
     about mine being evil?
       My husband and I are actually quite lucky--we're retirees 
     who can make choices about when and where we want to be 
     places--they're hard choices, but at least they're our 
     choices. Most people do not have that luxury. I keep thinking 
     about the many people who were out here working on our house, 
     most of whom drove from Boise. They didn't have a choice, 
     they had to make the drive. They did, however, have an 
     alternative funding source--they could pass their costs on to 
     us, which is what is now happening with all businesses and 
     commodities--and everything is just going to keep getting 
     more and more expensive as this goes around in a lovely 
     little circle. Remember the 70s and inflation? If we do not 
     find a way to stop this pretty soon, we're going to see 
     inflation like we've never seen it before. . .
       I'm all for ``alternative energy;'' I'd be thrilled to use 
     a vehicle that runs on ``alternative energy''--if there was 
     one available and I could afford it. Additionally, the 
     government has been funding research into ``alternative 
     energy'' for years now--do not make me raise even more funds 
     for it every time I fill up my gas tank. On top of that--do 
     not you think that whoever it is who finally makes a vehicle 
     that does run on ``alternative energy'' will be able to make 
     an awful lot of money on it? Why should I be paying for the 
     R&D for their huge profits? Stop wasting your time and my 
     money conducting show trial hearings of oil executives and do 
     something useful like maybe suspending the stupid rules about 
     mandatory floors on ethanol usage--with the floods in the 
     midwest and the even higher corn prices that is going to 
     raise gas prices even higher. Drill everywhere we can get 
     oil. Use the shale oil. Build nuclear plants. Do it now so 
     that ten years from now your successor won't be saying ``oh, 
     well, we would have had to do that ten years ago for it to 
     have done any good so we might as well not do it now that gas 
     prices have risen to fifteen dollars a gallon. . .''
       Oh, and by the way--why haven't the Republicans been all 
     over the Democrats about the fact that they were going to fix 
     everything that was wrong in the world once they had control 
     of Congress? Could you guys please make some noise about the 
     fact that some things aren't George Bush's fault but should 
     be laid at the feet of the Democratically-controlled 
     Congress?
     Tamara, Mountain Home.
                                  ____

       Honorable Senator, I am absolutely astonished and even 
     sickened at the shameful interrogation of the oil company 
     executives that was conducted by Senator Durbin, Maxine 
     Waters and others. Also, Senator McCain for insinuating that 
     the `Speculators' are to blame for the high price of oil. Why 
     is so much time being spent pointing the finger of blame at 
     people who did not cause this problem in the first place?
       These committees should be spending their time removing the 
     restrictions that have minimized access to the resources of 
     our own country as quickly as possible. I urge you to meet 
     with the Senators who somehow do not understand that it is 
     their own actions that have brought us to this place.
       They have stifled production, placed their own taxes on our 
     fuel supply and even threaten to penalize and take away 
     profits from the very companies who can invest those profits 
     back into increasing the available supplies, finding new 
     resources in an environmentally friendly way and developing 
     cleaner fuels. With sufficient resources, the private sector 
     will be able to solve this problem.
       You must convince other congressmen that the only solution 
     is to get out of the way and remove the restrictions that 
     prohibit qualified companies from increasing domestic 
     production of energy.
       Thank you for the work you do on our behalf.
     Ramona.
                                  ____

       Dear Senator Crapo, I would first like to thank you for the 
     way you voted in the recent issues. I would also like to have 
     my voice heard on the energy crisis. I feel that you should 
     take the restrictions off the oil company and allow them to 
     drill for oil. I feel that the U.S. is getting into a 
     situation such as Germany and Japan during World War II. They 
     did not have the resources so that they were in a position of 
     weakness. I feel that the energy crisis is brought about 
     because of special interest at the expense of our national 
     security. I also feel that they should allow nuclear energy. 
     It would certainly solve many problems and other countries 
     have been using it.
       Sincerely,
     Jackie, Pocatello.
                                  ____

       Senator Mike: I am not severely damaged by the gas prices 
     because I can still afford to drive. But I am more cautious, 
     and am much more conservative in my driving. The cost between 
     $2 gas and $4 gas is about what many families pay for the 
     cell phone service per month. Most people haven't put things 
     into perspective properly.
       There are lots of explanations of the reason for the high 
     prices and they seem to point at two reasons: foreign demand 
     (China and India) and the commodity speculators. Neither of 
     these can be fixed. However, the exchange value of the dollar 
     can be fixed, and we can announce that we are going to start 
     new oil exploration and drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (Not 
     ANWR).
       Those two solutions sound reasonable and obtainable. Thanks 
     for listening.
     Bob, Gooding.
                                  ____

       Fuel prices are seriously affecting my family's income. My 
     wife and I are new parents, and my wife is staying at home 
     with the baby most of the time. I am a struggling mortgage 
     loan originator, fighting to try and keep my family afloat in 
     a suffering housing market. I live in Emmett, and my office 
     is in Boise, so like many, many other folks from Emmett, I 
     commute to work. The increase in fuel prices has caused me to 
     cut down the amount of time I spend at the office. What used 
     to cost about $27 to get back and forth to work 4 times now 
     costs over $50. And that is with driving my 32 mpg Hyundai.
       Gas prices didn't used to be a deciding factor in the work 
     and recreational activities that we did. But, at $4 a gallon 
     for fuel, we cannot afford to get out as much as we used to, 
     which limits the amount of money we spend on other 
     activities. I'm sure I'm not alone and, with hundreds of 
     thousands of Idahoans not spending as much money on 
     recreational activities, it is further hurting our local and 
     national economies.
       I firmly believe that we as a nation are able to and need 
     to develop alternative fuels AND drill for fossil fuels in an 
     environmentally-responsible way. With advances in technology, 
     I am sure that it is possible. No one needs to drill through 
     the head of a caribou in order to get oil. With the oil 
     available in ANWR and the newly-discovered North Dakota oil 
     reserves, we have the potential for enough fuel to sustain 
     our nation and stimulate the economy until further advances 
     in alternative energy sources can be achieved.
       Please do everything you can to minimize the hurt we 
     Idahoans are feeling due to the sky-high energy costs. 
     Struggling young families like mine are fighting just to keep 
     our heads above water and gas prices are threatening to push 
     us under.
       Sincerely,
     Houston, Emmett.
                                  ____

       My wife and I live in a small rural community in Idaho. We 
     try to make one big trip each summer, and we visit my wife's 
     family in Utah once a month. We both drive mid-sized 
     American-made cars that are fairly economical, but [the cost] 
     to fill our gas tank has gone from $30 to $60.
       This is $30 less that we can spend on groceries. Our 
     grocery bill has also increased by $20-$40 a month. We have 
     one small child and hope to have another next year, and I 
     know my salary is not going to keep up with 7% inflation. It 
     is not just fuel we are worried about. Our house is entirely 
     electric because natural gas is not available in our 
     neighborhood and, before we switched our utility bill to 
     level pay, we were paying outrageous charges to heat and cool 
     our house. Idaho has some of the cheapest electric power in 
     the nation, and our electric bill in January was nearly 
     $400.00. Idaho seems to be anti-coal fired plants, but I am 
     not. I lived next to a coal-fired plant in West Virginia and 
     didn't notice any ill effects. However, I would rather see 
     increased hydro, nuclear, and geothermal energy production. 
     Nuclear is clean, and I think it is the way to go.
       Geothermal and hydro are both regular and efficient methods 
     of producing power. I am not in favor of wind farms; their 
     source of energy is inconsistent at best, and I do not think 
     the technology is quite good enough to place solar power 
     above nuclear or coal. I support drilling in ANWR and other 
     offshore sites in the U.S. ANWR is some of the most desolate 
     and unattractive tundra wasteland you will ever see. Drilling 
     could be accomplished there with virtually no ill effects to 
     humans and very minimal effects to the few species who can 
     survive the harsh tundra climate. Anything we can do to 
     research and drill for that shale-oil found throughout the 
     mountainous West would be beneficial. I would hope that 
     American auto makers can

[[Page S6434]]

     use technology to make more fuel-efficient vehicles that are 
     less reliant on petroleum. I think ethanol is a piece of the 
     puzzle, but it can never replace petroleum and is not the 
     ultimate solution. I'm sure you do not want a novel, so I'll 
     end on that note.
     Chris, Burley.
                                  ____

       Dear Mr. Crapo, You're so right about the gas prices 
     affecting those of us in Idaho. So many of us are in rural 
     areas that do not offer the services of a bigger city, i.e. 
     specialized physicians, food and clothes shopping, automotive 
     and farming equipment and supplies, etc. While you say the 
     average Idaho household is spending $50 more/month, I can 
     attest to the fact that it is more like $100 more/month, 
     especially where we must travel approximately ten miles to 
     the nearest town. Those people who are on repeat chemo or 
     dialysis treatments are really taking it in the pocket book!
       We need to tap into the alternative energy resources in our 
     country and stop relying on other Third World countries who 
     commit atrocities against humanity. Meanwhile, since it is an 
     emergency in terms of the USA economic status, let us try, 
     just try, to depend on the oil reserves and resources in the 
     U.S. and Canada and see where that takes us. I do not see (in 
     my limited experience) how it would make us any less of a 
     super power. Frankly, we'd be setting a good example.
       Thank you for considering my request to be heard as a 
     lifetime citizen of Idaho and the USA.
     Melanie, Silverton.
                                  ____

       I am a recently (February) divorced woman; mid-50's living 
     in Blackfoot. I have been doing okay, being able to make ends 
     meet. Recently I had to change my taxes. At the present time, 
     I have no real estate, which should change by December. Being 
     single again my taxes have changed to take out another 
     $284.00 per month.
       Meanwhile, I have a mother, widowed, in her late 80s that I 
     have to travel to Idaho Falls from Blackfoot to help with 
     bills, doctor appointments, grocery shopping, keeping the 
     yard mowed and all the things that go with helping to assist 
     in the care of an elderly parent. She is fairly competent, 
     and I am really lucky, but she is getting weaker and shakier. 
     I worry.
       Just last month alone, my gas bill went from $100.00 per 
     month to $180.00. This is huge for me. Considering I work for 
     a salary and receive no overtime, I guess you could say I 
     have a `fixed' income. I really cannot get a second job 
     because I really need to be able to leave at a moment's 
     notice if I need to take care of her needs. The gas is 
     actually dipping into my savings I pay myself each month.
       This has caused a lot of emotional feelings for me. I am 
     torn between where I should be and how much it is going to 
     cost me to get there. These choices should not be weighed 
     between gas prices and a mother in need.
       I hope something can be done about this. When I purchase 
     gas, I get physically sick in my stomach and I feel angry. My 
     car gets 28 mpg on the freeway, thank goodness. Imagine if I 
     had a truck or something less conservative.
       Sincerely,
     Cathy, Blackfoot.
                                  ____

       The Honorable Senator Crapo: I appreciate the opportunity 
     to share the personal feelings on high fuel costs, and the 
     impact these high energy costs are having on us. I believe 
     that legislative bodies need to get together and ``act'' in a 
     way that will ensure that my children, and theirs, will have 
     a way of life free from most of the stress and concerns 
     concomitant we are struggling with today, in the way of high 
     energy costs. We must execute a well-thought-out plan that 
     does not band-aid the current situation, at the expense of 
     the future. Quite frankly, I would rather pay my share now, 
     if it means my children will have the opportunity to live in 
     a world where they can focus on being all they can be, 
     without fear of making trade-offs between the fuel it takes 
     to get them to work, and the food or health care that they 
     need to survive. Finally, we need to act now (not next 
     session, or the one after that). Election year, or not . . . 
     I will be more prone to vote out candidates that 
     procrastinate on this urgent topic, at the expense of being 
     popular with their constituents in an election year (and I 
     believe that candidates would actually be more popular, if 
     they acted, rather than delayed).
       These are my positions. I am no authority. I believe a plan 
     like this could be achieved, if we could all learn to work 
     together (particularly the Legislature) and assemble a 20-
     year plan that alleviates much of our dependence on foreign 
     oil, to wit:
       Our oil companies are doing just fine, thank you. While I 
     would not be in favor of a windfall tax on oil profits, that 
     would merely be passed along to consumers, in the form of 
     further fuel price increases, I would be in favor of a large 
     tax deduction for increasing refinery capacity so long as an 
     equal investment was made in alternative forms of energy 
     development (wind, solar, seas, geothermal, etc).
       Establishing legislation that requires all automakers 
     selling cars in the U.S. to develop, by 2018, models of 
     reliable, economical, and efficient electric-based commuter 
     vehicles, enabling local transportation, thus decreasing 
     pollution and allowing consumer cost avoidance for fossil-
     fuel unless traveling longer distances. This would include 
     fuel-cell, rechargeable, etc. vehicles.
       Speed up the approval of nuclear power generating permits 
     to ensure we have the generating capacity to begin the shift 
     to electric vehicles.
       Mandate approval of local option taxes as the Federal 
     level, allowing citizens to tax themselves for transportation 
     plans that reduce CO2 emissions (it is clear our 
     own State Legislature is asleep at the wheel on this 
     subject). Like No Child Left Behind, we have proven it is 
     possible to require state governments to ``act'' in positive 
     ways.
       Open up ANWR to exploration, drilling, and oil production, 
     along with environment preservation regulations that require 
     ``logical'' and ``thoughtful,'' yet inexpensive ways of 
     minimizing our footprint in this, and all areas (including 
     offshore) that may produce the fuels we need to get to an 
     electric-based commuter mentality. Require environmentalists 
     to ``prove'' the impact, not speculate, and enact the 
     needful, but minimum.
       Require all oil companies to invest in infrastructure that 
     allows for the delivery of alternative fuels (e.g., hydrogen) 
     in a stepwise, U.S.-wide plan that allows for a complete 
     mapping of these services in the next fifteen years.
       Provide tax-incentives, or perhaps Federal Grants to 
     companies that can develop technologies that allow for the 
     generation of clean power right in our homes (advanced solar 
     cells, fuel cells, etc.).
       We need to act now, as the answers are sure to be long in 
     the making. But we also need to take some chances (ANWR) that 
     allow us to make it to the next stage of technological 
     maturity. We need this balance: Current energy exploration 
     and local production along with equal investments in the 
     deployment of new energy source technologies. We also need to 
     enable investments in all the underpinning services and 
     infrastructure that make this future vision come to fruition 
     (alternative fuel delivery infrastructure, home power 
     transfer technology, etc.).
     Pat, Boise.

                          ____________________