[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 29, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7623-S7625]
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 that today's letters be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       I strongly urge you to fully and aggressively support 
     legislation that extends the tax credits for renewable energy 
     sources. This legislation has been defeated in Congress 3 
     times in the past year! This is unimaginable and pathetically 
     short-sighted. Solar and wind power generation and the like 
     generates hundreds of thousands of jobs and it is critical 
     that companies expanding these industries be supported in 
     their early stages.
     Briant.
                                  ____

       Thank you for asking! I am disabled and living on Social 
     Security ($784 per month). It is not a lot, but I had managed 
     to live within my means for a short while and still have some 
     kind of interaction with my church and family.
       I will start my story from the time I became disabled and 
     had to leave my employment with the Environmental Protection 
     Agency in June of 1995. I became a full-time camper with my 
     mother. We started out in her 19-foot class C camper and 
     after my disability claim was approved 3 years later we moved 
     ``up'' to a 29-foot fifth-wheel and a very used truck to tow 
     it with. We took care of each other. We spent several summers 
     hosting at Idaho State Parks for a free campsite (no salary) 
     and one winter in Washington at Fort Canby. Most of our 
     winters were spent in southern Texas at a large RV park where 
     it was warm, the rent was reasonable and activities to keep 
     us socially and mentally engaged were plentiful. We made many 
     friends on the road. There are/were many people living life 
     as we were as it was all we/they could afford. Hanging out in 
     the desert, bathing in an irrigation ditch, hauling our 
     drinking water and driving 10 miles to ``dump'' our tank was 
     fun at first. It was a life we could afford as long as the 
     gas prices stayed down. We did not take many ``side-trips.'' 
     I do not know what the folks ``on the road'' will do now.
       Finally, in 2001, I decided I wanted to have a real home 
     again. A place to plant roots, real ones . . . roses and a 
     vegetable garden as well as have a church family; someplace 
     where I did not have to keep moving every few weeks or 
     months; a real community that stayed put. In November of 2001 
     while visiting my sister in Spokane, I found a small ``handy-
     man's nightmare'' in Smelterville, Idaho that I could just 
     afford if I sold the RV and truck. Mom was agreeable. The 
     realtor said ``you really do not want that house!'' I said 
     ``yes, I do!'' It had everything I wanted: a place to sit out 
     front and greet the neighbors, an area for a garden and a 
     clothesline to hang my laundry on; simple things.
       Our whole world was falling apart at the time of the 
     purchase as it was the week of September 11, 2001. In the 
     silence of no aircraft flying overhead that week we prayed 
     that our country would make it through this difficult and 
     frightening time. We signed the papers, opened the windows 
     and let the house air out for the winter. Mom and I headed 
     south for our final warm, southern winter. I will never 
     forget the sight of the huge American flags flying from the 
     many rigs heading south. Do you know that most of the people 
     living the ``gypsy'' life are very patriotic? Almost all of 
     the men, and many of the women (myself included) are 
     Veterans. I am reminded of the scene in the movie 
     Independence Day where the RV's were all headed across the 
     desert to Area 51.
       We returned to Idaho in March to two feet of snow on the 
     ground and no heat source in the house. We hired two guys 
     (for $20) who were waiting for the tavern to open to unload 
     the U-haul before the next blizzard caught up with us. It had 
     been chasing us since Denver. We had no furniture, just 
     Rubbermaid tubs of dishes, pots and pans, clothes and craft 
     stuff. (I slept on an air mattress on these tubs for the 
     first year.) We stayed with my sister in Spokane while the 
     weather settled. Fortunately the sun came out the next 
     week so we sat out in the yard at a broken down picnic 
     table in the sun a lot until it warmed up. We shoveled the 
     debris (old carpeting and broken floor tiles) out of the 
     house and a neighbor was kind enough to haul it to the 
     dump. It was a year before we could walk on the floors 
     barefoot. It took me that long with a small belt sander to 
     re-do them.
       Over the next five years, I patched, painted, re-wired, 
     constructed cabinets, closets and shelves, plumbed and 
     eventually with the help of a USDA loan at 1 percent was able 
     to have a foundation put under the house. I turned the ground 
     in the backyard by hand with a shovel and planted my 
     vegetable garden. I planted flowers. My cousin came up from 
     California with her two foster children and helped me put in 
     a gas fireplace that she had found in an abandoned mobile 
     home, and an old picket fence. We tore out the sidewalk 
     leading to the house and replaced it with stepping stones and 
     an arch with pink roses. I hung my laundry out to dry on my 
     beautiful clothesline. We celebrated my mother's 80th 
     birthday in the backyard in the rain under a tarp. The next 
     day my cousin and I started a real patio cover so we would 
     not get so wet during the next celebration. None of this was 
     fast or easy. I am disabled, remember? I sat in the sun and 
     thanked God for His many blessings.

[[Page S7624]]

       Last November, as I installed the new kitchen counter and 
     sink and the house was finally almost perfect, as I 
     celebrated my 64th birthday, I sold my home because I was 
     unable to keep up with the utilities. My mortgage was low 
     (only 4.75 percent), and I had a USDA grant which enabled me 
     to have a new gas furnace. Unfortunately the town is in the 
     process of replacing the sewer system, the water district is 
     upgrading their system and the electricity and gas just keep 
     going up and up and up. I was paying more for utilities than 
     I was for my mortgage and USDA loan. I attended a financial 
     seminar provided by my church to find out how I could make 
     ends meet. What was I not doing that would make the 
     difference of financial stability? I tried finding part-time 
     work but no one would hire me for the few hours I could work 
     without compromising my health. My skills were outdated. I 
     could not obtain approval for school on the Internet. I could 
     only go to school to learn something if I would not be self-
     employed and the school was so far away. The hours spent 
     would be on their terms, not when my body could work, and 
     would again compromise my health. Selling was my only way out 
     of debt, or I could continue as I was and continue to 
     ``charge'' all my groceries, medicine, gas, etc., and keep 
     the bills paid . . . for a while.
       The price of gasoline was not too much of a problem as I 
     lived 2 blocks from church, 1 block from the post office and 
     Walmart had just moved into town! I could still walk to most 
     places I needed to go.
       Now, gasoline is a problem. The only low-income apartment I 
     could find was in Wallace, Idaho, 15 miles from where I had 
     been. [It does not] seem very far, does it? But if everything 
     you do is that far away, there is no public transportation, 
     and the price of gasoline is $4.00+, it is far indeed. I do 
     much of my shopping via the Internet as the drive to the 
     nearest town where fabric, books, electronics, etc. are sold 
     is 50 miles each way. My daughter paid for my Internet 
     service so I would not be so out of touch with the world.
       I was already committed to directing my granddaughter's 
     school Christmas and Spring musical plays. That meant a trip 
     to Kellogg every day. While I still had some money left from 
     the sale of my home I could absorb this cost. Now the money 
     is gone and I haven't seen my family in 2 weeks. I try to 
     combine my trips to church with shopping for groceries at 
     Walmart. I do not attend many of the functions at church 
     anymore. I used to be at the church almost every day. I may 
     have to stop going to that church completely and go to one 
     here in Wallace. That sounds reasonable, but the church in 
     Smelterville is ALIVE! The churches here are not.
       I miss my little four room house in Smelterville with its 
     big south-facing windows, playing in the dirt in the yard, 
     the scent of the flowers, the garage with my wood-working 
     tools and the clothesline. My apartment here is clean, 
     maintained, sufficient but dark. It is on the north side of a 
     square red brick building. There is no room for my saws, my 
     bicycle or my kayak. It is too dark even for container 
     plants. The trunk of my car is my storage room. It is like 
     living in a cave, and the building reminds me of a prison. I 
     must have the lights on all the time, but the heat doesn't 
     cost as much as my home did and I do not have to pay for 
     sewer, water and garbage. Now with the price of gas I also 
     miss my family, my church and my friends. I am trying to 
     start a new life here. I really am. But starting all over 
     again this time is harder than all the physical work I did on 
     my home.
       Yes, we need alternative sources of energy. I have always 
     known that. We need to build smarter. I have always known 
     that. We need community transportation especially in rural 
     areas. If it is at all possible, make some of these 
     alternative sources of energy available to the poorer elders 
     of this country. Do not make them leave their homes because 
     the infrastructure in this country is falling apart. Do not 
     allow any new homes to be built without solar or wind power. 
     The Swedes do not let you build without a composting toilet! 
     I learned a lot living in an RV over the years. I have read 
     many books on alternative housing. I would have built one but 
     it would have cost me much more than my ``tear-it-down!'' 
     house that no one wanted did. We do not have to keep building 
     the way we are. So wasteful. Now I'm running off on a tangent 
     and this letter is too long already!
       Thank you for listening to this elder travel down a few old 
     trails. I appreciate it.
       I would be happy to talk with you or your representatives 
     if you have any questions.
     Merilyn, Wallace.
                                  ____

       I provide sliding fee scale mental health services for 
     those who do not qualify for assistance or have insurance 
     that covers their services. If my wife did not have a second 
     income as a teacher (24 years) I could not afford this 
     ministry. I live and travel central Idaho (Valley, Adams, and 
     Idaho counties) as do my patients. Rising energy is 
     problematic both in fossil fuels and electricity for us all. 
     Most of us are independent by nature, but this ongoing crisis 
     will continue to put many of us on assistance lists we wish 
     to avoid. It is also affecting the delivery of basic 
     subsistence services for our schools, hospitals, and public 
     services.
     Michael.
                                  ____

       The suggestion to drill in ANWAR and off the coasts is mere 
     rhetoric when you imply it will reduce the rising costs of 
     gasoline at the pump today. From all the information I have 
     found, it would take 10 years to get that oil into 
     production, and then it would supply a mere 6 months of the 
     U.S. needs at our current rate of consumption. Probably less 
     than we would be demanding in 10 years, [I] think? Do you 
     have information that contradicts this? I would be happy to 
     hear it.
       The multinational oil companies who would be doing the 
     drilling would be selling the oil on the open world market, 
     and we as a country would have no more chance to benefit from 
     this than we now do from the ``foreign'' oil you discourage. 
     They make a profit wherever they drill, they do not save it 
     just for us. We already sell most of our power-producing coal 
     to China today. How many [in] the Congress know that?
       We cannot drill our way out of this mess.
       You should first close the investment loopholes that have 
     encouraged the new ``bubble'' of speculation in crude oil 
     (after running away from the housing bubble). It would be 
     great if you could also close other potential ``bubble'' 
     opportunities, like food, and who knows what the investment 
     nuts will think of next? Speculation is well on the way to 
     ruining our economy.
       You should next enact serious legislation to encourage 
     conservation, and invest in an expansion of proven 
     alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power.
       You should NOT encourage investment in nuclear power. That, 
     also, will take 20 years to come online, therefore having no 
     effect on our current needs. So far as I can see we have 
     never found a way to dispose safely of the waste. To 
     encourage nuclear building will be a very expensive subsidy 
     for the nuclear industry, but creating even more unpleasant 
     problems for future generations.
       You should encourage investment, with tax incentives, for 
     technological research and development of truly new energy 
     possibilities. I have no idea what these might turn out to 
     be, but Americans are supposed to be inventive. Let's 
     encourage that old spirit again.
       If you really want to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, you 
     should pass some kind of subsidy for low income people to buy 
     hybrid or electric cars. (I know, I know . . . sounds like a 
     handout). But it would be the most effective use of tax 
     dollars in a direct way to substantially reduce reliance on 
     oil. Eliminating the subsidy for the oil companies, and 
     spending it on fuel efficient cars right now, would be more 
     logical. (Just think of it as a gift to the struggling 
     automotive industry; if you really want to be patriotic limit 
     the payment to American made cars, if you can find any of 
     those left.)
       I live out in the country, and I am only one of many here 
     in the rural west who have to have my car to get to town for 
     work, groceries, doctor appointments, etc. We have no public 
     transportation available. At current prices, one trip to town 
     costs me $8.50. Of course I try to limit the number of trips, 
     because I am retired. Ridiculous ideas like a gas tax 
     moratorium are a waste of everyone's time. So are the 
     drumbeats of drilling for more oil in inadequately supplied 
     places which could not possibly or timely relieve the crunch 
     we are in now. If we had a decent oil pool anywhere in the 
     U.S. I could see drilling, but these possibilities you list 
     are inadequate. We need to get away from oil as much as 
     possible, and we need to do it fast. I have lived most of my 
     life in an oil abundant economy, taking it for granted. But I 
     can see the road ahead and it's not pretty.
       I am guessing my letter will go in the waste pile reserved 
     for those who disagree with you. It would be interesting to 
     hear your thoughts on my suggestions. It is time for real 
     head scratching, thinking, and cooperation, not politics as 
     usual.
     Jill, Orofino.
                                  ____

       Senator Crapo--with pleasure. As a retired engineer, 
     professor, vet, et al.--your priorities are close--certainly 
     emphasize nuclear--but our legislators should stop playing 
     their petty political games and allow/seek oil production and 
     refining capabilities! Drill in the north slope/preserve of 
     Alaska--NOW! Allow the oil companies to build more 
     refineries--NOW! Most frankly--the political and 
     environmental games have REALLY CAUSED our energy problems!
     W.C. Idaho Falls.
                                  ____

       We appreciate the offer to allow us to address this 
     concern. Vern and I are on fixed incomes and are working part 
     time jobs to help make the ends meet. Social Security brings 
     a large chunk of the income into our home but it is quickly 
     swallowed up with medical insurance to cover any problems 
     that we might have. With both of us being in the 70s now it 
     is harder to find work opportunities. We both come from large 
     families and so we were unable to go to college for a degree. 
     Both our fathers were blue collar workers who only went 
     through grade school years. This was the norm for their 
     growing up years.
       With cost of insurances for medical, home and vehicle, we 
     are paying out over $650.00 a month. That is for the least 
     amount we can afford. Social Security gives us a small 
     increase in January and then takes it away with the premiums 
     to cover our Medicare insurance. This is over and above the 
     amount listed above.
       My husband worked for Frontier Airlines for 26 years and we 
     had put aside what we thought was an adequate amount to help 
     us with the addition of the remaining work years added and 
     without child costs. We also

[[Page S7625]]

     had approximately $78,000 in shares in the company through 
     People Express. When my husband was 50 years old, Mr Frank 
     Lorenzo did his usual number on the airline industry and 
     placed Frontier into bankruptcy. Our shares disappeared, our 
     pension was pretty much stolen to put in his pocket and we 
     were left with no real future. We tried for 2 years to 
     survive and save our house in Boise to no avail.
       Now enter the price increases to drive our vehicles, heat 
     our homes, and feed ourselves. The environmentalist have 
     `done a number' on their fellow countrymen by shutting down 
     the ability to use our own reserves to help the country out. 
     We are more fortunate than a lot of our fellow men but we 
     still are struggling to make ends meet and see the need to 
     cut back even more to survive.
       Our oldest granddaughter is getting married in August in 
     San Diego. We had plans to go down there for that. That will 
     probably not happen unless we go further into debt to 
     purchase either fuel for our vehicle or an airline ticket 
     which will also need fuel to get to Salt Lake City and back. 
     We are greatly disturbed by the rich, lining their pockets at 
     the expense of those who thought that we could retire and 
     survive. Heaven help those who still have families to provide 
     for.
       Let us open up our rich reserves, put the U.S. back into 
     being a country that provides for its countrymen, with work 
     in the oil fields, and a God-fearing, loving-your-fellow-man 
     country. Greed, pride, and selfish people are dictating what 
     we do in the Senate, the House, and those who pander to those 
     who call the shots by `buying' them off to take care of 
     themselves.
     Vern & Martha.

                          ____________________