[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 116 (Tuesday, July 15, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6715-S6717]
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:

       Hello Mike, One of your comments on the topic hit home with 
     me--the fact that, due

[[Page S6716]]

     to the size of our state, Idahoans are being left with few 
     options in the face of higher gasoline prices. That is, 
     sadly, my personal case.
       I have the good fortune to be employed in Moscow for the 
     University of Idaho. My home is up near Sandpoint. It is more 
     than a commute distance, but I do get to go home on the 
     weekends--a two-hour drive through, as I'm sure you're aware, 
     some of the loveliest country anywhere. It is also twice as 
     expensive now as it was when I joined the University in 2003.
       Sure, I would love an alternative. But population density 
     in our state does not allow light rail to be competitive, 
     public transportation on that route runs only between such, 
     ah, urban centers as Desmet and Hayden. (That would be 
     greater metropolitan Desmet. If you go through there, do not 
     blink.)
       In short, we are stuck. Along the way, I've been noticing 
     quite a few more cars parked near the highway than I used to. 
     Big ones--Tahoes and Suburbans and other 4WD monsters too 
     uneconomical to run under the new energy regime. Cars that 
     offered their owners a measure of safety during the Idaho 
     winters, and you are aware of what the last one was like. (By 
     the way, it snowed in Moscow on the 10th of June. I am not 
     kidding.)
       What we are compromising with here in the name of economy 
     is safety. There aren't really any numbers to describe that 
     sort of choice, but it is not unusual in the transportation 
     arena. Mandating a higher mileage requirement for domestic 
     automobiles, for example, runs straight into the safety 
     issue. I'd like people in D.C., to be aware that SUVs aren't 
     necessarily useless affectations, and that choosing an 
     alternative is not quite as easy out here as it is, say, to 
     hop a train on the Boston-Atlanta metropolitan axis.
       What to do? Well, it is generally good guidance to advise 
     the government to get the heck out of the way in 
     circumstances such as these. That means reviewing and 
     discarding out-of-date environmental restrictions, for one. 
     Can we really believe in this age of nuclear fuel re-
     processing that we still need to have swimming pools full of 
     poisonous spent rods when something practical might be done 
     with them? Silliness. It needs to be reviewed and corrected. 
     It means not mandating nationwide speed restrictions when 
     region A has different requirements than region B. It means 
     stopping every state from mandating different gasoline 
     formulae so that the refineries have to guess what and how 
     much to make for where, when. That drives up their cost in 
     the meantime. I'd love the government to ``encourage'' 
     private research into alternate energy, largely by refraining 
     from over-regulation.
       Sure, I'd love a cheap, government-subsidized train ride 
     from Moscow to the Canadian border, but I simply cannot 
     countenance robbing my fellow citizens to pay for it. If it 
     cannot stand on its own, let it be.
       What I want most of all is for the government to stop 
     flapping mindlessly to the gassy wind coming from the global 
     warming hucksters. Just because it is an international 
     political enthusiasm does not make it backed by valid 
     science. And if we are going to clobber our economy in an 
     effort to choke off carbon dioxide, of all things, we really 
     ought to do so based on something other than computer 
     modeling with more assumptions than data backing it. The 
     government can say ``no'' to that sort of garbage but if it 
     says ``yes'' it better be ready to pay for the damage. And 
     not, I hope, with my money. Thanks for letting me vent, Mike.
     Tim, Moscow. 
                                  ____

       Senator Crapo. Thank you for the opportunity to voice my 
     opinion and state my case in this situation.
       Oil is the fuel of democracy, and there is no other natural 
     resource available at this time that can replace it. None. I 
     am convinced that unless the Congress acts now, they will be 
     harnessed by the undertakers of historical fact with 
     sabotaging our once-vibrant and globally-dominant economy 
     with fuel prices that will cripple our ability to remain 
     competitive at home and abroad.
       [Conservatives] have a real opportunity to take this issue 
     and own it. I cannot fathom a capitalist democracy offering 
     up to investigate the profits of private industry when the 
     government themselves are the only ones clearly guilty of 
     benefiting from a windfall profit. By definition, a windfall 
     profit is benefiting from a market occurrence you had nothing 
     to do with. The government has nothing to do with the 
     profitability of these oil companies, but benefits by levying 
     the taxes and regulations.
       Here's an Idahoan's approach to solving this:
       1. Suspend the federal taxes immediately--this will not fix 
     a thing, but will give a brief reprieve while you approve 
     more domestic oil exploration.
       2. Immediately announce that all [conservatives] will unite 
     to pursue immediate off shore drilling, on shore drilling and 
     especially drilling in remote locations such as the ANWR.
       3. Stop corn subsidies to the corn growers for ethanol that 
     has proven to be a political hay-making machine. I see right 
     through this pandering to the early caucus and primary 
     states, and it is wrong. It does not bring down the cost of 
     fuel.
       4. Approve more refineries to handle the flow of crude from 
     our own wells and pipelines.
       5. Explain to the American public why Iraq fuel is not 
     flowing here yet in an amount that would benefit both 
     nations.
       6. Approve more clean energy like nuclear fuel and get 
     Yucca Mountain open.
       7. Approve more clean coal-burning power stations in the 
     West. Look at the Navajo Nation!!!!
       Most level-headed like-minded Americans will follow your 
     lead in the pursuit of patriotic exploration of oil in our 
     country. We need it. It has been long enough since we last 
     cared about the state of our country in preserving our 
     economy so we can preserve our country and way of life.
       I love my way of life and wasted about five minutes 
     calculating my [carbon] footprint on some website. I found 
     out what I already knew--my carbon footprint was ten times 
     larger than the average world citizen. Well, no news flash--
     the average Idahoan produces ten times more benefit to the 
     world than the average world citizen. That is what makes 
     Idaho great, and I love my state!
       Get out front of this wave of frustration and cash in on 
     the patriotic exploration of domestic oil. We will support 
     you. I hate depending on politicians--but I have no choice on 
     this one. I am depending on you to get something fixed.
     Ben.
                                  ____

       Dear Senator Crapo. Lowering the price of gasoline will not 
     solve the current crisis for our country. If, by legislation, 
     we were able to gain another source within our country, 
     Americans would return to complacency and fail again to 
     conserve. I believe a better use of legislative power is 
     this:
       Actually ask Americans to conserve what we have.
       Support those many innovative people now researching 
     alternative fuel (cooking oil, peanut butter, soybeans, 
     hydrogen, whatever) for a sensible, quick and urgent 
     solution--with the same fervor that went into the race to be 
     first on the moon.
       Offer incentives to car manufacturers to discontinue gas 
     hogs, or provide an economical conversion option for existing 
     engines; and to begin consistent production of hybrid 
     vehicles with stellar mileage capacity on these alternate 
     fuels.
       Reduce dependence upon oil and gas from all sources, 
     whether from unfriendly nations or from our own reserves.
       Thank you for asking.
     BJ, Post Falls.
                                  ____

       To Whom It May Concern: The energy prices are of great 
     concern to our family. We budget very conscientiously and 
     always spend less than we make and try our best to pay down 
     our mortgage and invest regularly. Our budget for gasoline 
     has had to double over the past two years from $150/month to 
     $300/month. We are a one-income family, and my husband 
     commutes 50 miles round trip to work every day.
       Due to the housing market, moving closer to work would cost 
     us even more over a five to ten-year period, since the value 
     of our house has decreased and the value of housing near his 
     work has managed to stay pretty level. Not to mention that we 
     like where we live and do not want to move. We have a very 
     low fixed interest rate in our current mortgage as well.
       As a result of the increasing costs, even camping, as a 
     family vacation, is becoming cost-prohibitive. To manage the 
     increase so far, we have reduced our travel plans and cut 
     some from our regular savings and investment budget. However, 
     with the concurrent grocery price increases and overall 
     inflation, I foresee further cuts across the board for our 
     budget as our costs rise and income stays the same.
       Unlike the government, gas pumps, grocery stores, etc., we 
     have no one to pass along our ``cost increase'' to. We have 
     to make do with what we have.
       I am infuriated that we allow other countries to drill 
     offshore and yet not ourselves. The U.S. would run a cleaner 
     and more efficient operation offshore than any of the other 
     countries we currently encourage to work there. I am also a 
     supporter of nuclear energy and think we need to keep 
     building refineries for oil, concurrently with nuclear energy 
     plants and other energy sources.
       I often look at the policies that are being proposed and it 
     is difficult not to believe the conspiracy theories that 
     there are many in power who want Americans to suffer, who 
     want the dollar's value to keep plummeting, who want energy 
     prices to soar for their own political ends.
       I hope my story and my opinion help in your research.
           Blessings,
     Lorna, Boise.
                                  ____

       Senator Crapo, I recently completed a complete analysis of 
     sources of alternative energy at my ranch in Swan Valley, 
     Idaho. Fuel and energy costs are now so prohibitive that we 
     cannot sustain our business without passing on those costs or 
     we will have to face the prospect of just shutting down. I 
     looked at wind, water, bio gas and solar and, initially, I 
     did not consider the capital costs required to install them. 
     I used actual history for electricity and propane usage over 
     the past couple of years. We raise beef cattle and registered 
     horses, so I have plenty of possible methane production; we 
     have a pretty constant canyon wind, especially in the summer; 
     and we have a large stream that borders the property and it 
     has a high flow rate in the spring and early summer. I 
     carefully estimated wind days, solar days, flow volumes and 
     efficient, but realistic manure collection. What I found was 
     that for about $300,000 to $500,000 of capital, I could cover 
     no more

[[Page S6717]]

     than 30 percent of my annual electricity and propane needs! I 
     didn't even start on my diesel and gasoline requirements. My 
     conclusion from this analysis is that we must utilize oil, 
     coal and nuclear power to continue to provide the majority of 
     our energy requirements in this country long into the future. 
     It is not just our economy that we need to worry about, but 
     the very fabric of our society is at stake! Renewable energy 
     is a curiosity and may help in small amounts in localized 
     applications, but it is obvious to me that you cannot take 
     small net energy sources and produce big net energy sources 
     from them. Be concerned about ethanol and bio diesel for that 
     very reason. We need to stop this anal conservation lunacy 
     and utilize our natural resources to solve our energy 
     problem! Absolutely, we need to take care of the environment, 
     but we cannot afford to pay these prices (especially as the 
     money goes directly to the Middle East to fund our enemies!). 
     The solution to the problem is obvious--why cannot we set 
     aside political posturing and get this done???
     Ken, Swan Valley.
                                  ____

       I consider Idaho my home. I love the state, the out of 
     doors and, most of all, the people. I have lived here for 
     over ten years having moved here from Bend, Oregon. My career 
     has taken me all over the world. I have lived or traveled 
     through 39 countries in the last twenty years prior to moving 
     here, and there is nowhere else I would rather live. 
     Presently, I live 45 miles north of Boise, near New Plymouth.
       For a number of years, I worked for Woodgrain Millwork as 
     manager of one of their testing and coatings sections. When 
     that closed, I transferred to Kelly Moore as the outside 
     Industrial and Commercial Sales Rep. Life has been very 
     enjoyable. However, a large portion of my activity centers 
     around construction, food processing and manufacturing. Each 
     of these sectors has had to restructure a good many of their 
     plans as one might expect.
       It is my belief the market in Idaho will recover at some 
     point; however, it is simply a matter of how long the 
     individual can hold out. Commissions, as one would expect, 
     have lagged, and, of course, the cost of living has not. I 
     have a pretty good-sized territory requiring considerable 
     driving. Every two weeks, I have been spending around $250 
     for gas. Today, I turned in receipts for close to $500. While 
     the company offsets the majority of this, I still bear a 
     portion and, with the increase in the overall cost of living 
     and the decline in commissions, I am having to look for work 
     elsewhere. I have been supplementing the difference out of 
     savings; I cannot keep doing that. The fact of the matter is 
     Friday I fly to Portland for an interview, a bitter pill, but 
     I must get the bleed under control. Given the changes over 
     the last seven to eight months, I see no other choice.
     Roger.
                                  ____

       Senator Crapo, Even though I make a good living these gas 
     prices couldn't have hit at a worse time. I am trying to get 
     my bills paid down so that I can afford to retire. It does 
     not look like I'll be retiring anytime soon.
       I am very upset with Congress; they should be opening up 
     exploration and drilling in this country. I agree with Newt: 
     Drill here, Drill now, Pay less. Please work towards this 
     goal.
           Thank you for asking,
     Bill, Meridian.
                                  ____

       Yeah, gas is too high and it makes the price of everything 
     go up. Food prices are going crazy, produce, it is killing 
     the farmers the truckers and the consumers. Now the electric 
     bill is going up, natural gas going up, but wages not so 
     much.
       I make $15.60 an hour, pretty good for Idaho; but if I 
     hadn't already bought into my house eight years ago, I would 
     be out of luck.
       I believe transit would help a good deal, but the bus 
     system [is not adequate]. Not enough money to run a real bus 
     system. Federal funding keeps getting cut and cut again. It 
     does not make sense. If you want people to cut consumption of 
     gas, you have to give them options.
           Sincerely,
     Connie, Boise.
                                  ____

       I would like to respond to your request for comments 
     regarding energy prices and their effect on the people you 
     represent.
       Like many people in the greater Boise metro area, I work in 
     downtown Boise but live in communities in the surrounding 
     areas. I work as a software developer, and as such I make 
     what is largely considered to be a comfortable income. I 
     drive a late 80s sedan that I have owned for ten years, and 
     was owned by my parents before me. Unlike many neighbors, I 
     carry no debt outside of my home mortgage, but my mortgage is 
     a significant portion of my after-tax income (greater than 35 
     percent). My family functions on a very lean budget, not 
     eating out often, producing our own vegetables in our garden, 
     and taking few road trips or vacations.
       Lately I have needed to cut back on my driving due to 
     increased fuel costs. My commute now costs me roughly $5.50 
     per day just in gas. According to the IRS standard vehicle 
     expense deduction, the real cost is $12.12 daily, which 
     includes upkeep and repair as well as fuel costs. Just last 
     year, I was able to function within a $3 per day commute 
     budget. To counteract these increases in cost, I have 
     purchased a road bicycle and am starting to ride in to work 
     the 12 miles one way. Unfortunately, this adds an extra 1.5 
     hours to my day. So now my workday increased from roughly 
     nine hours away from home to almost eleven hours.
       However, I also suffer from severe allergies specifically 
     relating to tree pollen, grasses and weeds, of which our 
     desert climate and river surrounding community has plenty. 
     These allergies cause my eyes to swell shut when pollen 
     levels increase beyond reasonable levels. The Boise valley 
     area has especially bad pollen problems, due to frequent 
     inversions and stale summer air conditions.
       So I am faced with the choice of saving money by riding a 
     bicycle, but suffering debilitating allergic reactions, or 
     paying an additional 54 percent in transportation costs, 
     which cuts out monies allocated in our budget to spending 
     time with my family in local restaurants, or for charitable 
     giving to the Rescue Mission. Those businesses and charities, 
     in turn, no doubt, are feeling the pinch from other families 
     in similar situations, so local businesses are suffering as 
     well.
       The net result of rising costs of fuel and inadequate 
     public transportation in suburban cities, is a lose-lose 
     situation for both me and my community. Add to this problem 
     the speculative nature of fuel prices due to our nations 
     reliance on fuel imports, and the future becomes even less 
     certain. An uncertain future means less spending. Less 
     spending means economic shortfalls and contraction.
       I am entirely in favor of new efforts to expand new 
     domestic oil exploration and refining capacity as well as 
     investments in nuclear energy infrastructure to help reassign 
     valuable fossil fuels like natural gas or oil to 
     transportation uses and away from electrical power 
     generation. And I also am in favor of long term research in 
     alternate energy and alternate transportation but not to the 
     exclusion of shorter term solutions that make use of our 
     nations existing vehicle inventory and infrastructure.
       Thank you for your desire to hear from your constituents.
     Jason, Meridian.

                          ____________________