[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 130 (Friday, August 1, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8024-S8025]
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] 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:
       I am a firm believer that Americans need to find 
     alternatives to foreign oil and reliance on fossil fuels. 
     But, instead of more domestic production, I believe Americans 
     need to diversify in their approach, and not simply rely on 
     alternative places to find oil and fossil fuels. Instead, the 
     focus should be upon ingenuity, for example instead of water 
     producing electricity, why not windmills, or wind energy? I 
     grew up seeing fields of windmills on drives from Los Angeles 
     to Palm Springs. Also, Boise is one of the most bicycle 
     friendly cities, although you'd never know it by commuting on 
     our poor streets that have completely ineffective bicycle 
     commuting lanes. Instead of oil and gasoline, encourage 
     people to bike to work by offering an expanded commuter tax 
     credit. And, we have absolutely NO public transportation 
     system. Why not focus on a systematic expansion of public 
     transportation? As for home electricity and the like, why not 
     an expanded tax credit on ``going green?'' I learned about 
     the energy certification for your home when my family was 
     building our new house, but it costs almost $3,000 to get 
     your home tested to qualify for the tax credit, which is not 
     worth it. Plus, energy efficient appliances and technology 
     generally costs more. Why isn't such technology more cost 
     effective? Why are we not encouraged to do more? If green 
     technology costs more, in order to encourage its use and 
     mainstream applications, there has to be financial 
     encouragement to install it in order to offset the high up-
     front costs.
       As for transportation, this summer, I cannot afford to buy 
     a new car, even though I am a solid middle class citizen. 
     Food prices have skyrocketed for my family, I have to pay for 
     daycare for the summer, and I own a 10-year-old gas guzzling 
     SUV, which is probably not worth much on a trade in anymore 
     what with the high gas prices. But I live only 2 miles from 
     work. The lack of public transportation has forced me to 
     consider a different alternative, and that is biking to work. 
     I am lucky because my employer (the federal government, by 
     the way) is required to provide lockers and shower facilities 
     on site, so I can bike in, shower, and go to work. I have 
     encouraged my children to join me, and they are biking with 
     me to summer camp as well. Unfortunately, this is the first 
     summer I have been able to do this, because transporting my 
     children to daycare was just about impossible without a car 
     before this. Yet, most other nations have alternative 
     transportation, and a totally different day care system, and 
     because cycling is the norm it is much safer. I think the 
     problem is deeper than just gas or oil prices. It is our own 
     selfishness that has gotten us here, because we have never 
     been forced to consider the alternatives.
       I hope that a comprehensive approach to this problem will 
     be focused on, instead of just a quick financial fix for 
     segments of the population. It is hurting us all. And until 
     Congress and our nation focuses on the more widespread 
     issues, our approach to everyday life won't change. Because 
     it is not just energy costs . . . it is more than that, and 
     God forbid Congress forgets about the other problems, such as 
     health care, child care, education, affordable housing, and 
     the lack of appropriate services for those that are now 
     falling behind because wages cannot keep up.
     Kirsten.
                                  ____

       As a kid, Congress said they were solving an `energy-
     crisis,' and by the time I could drive, cars would get 100 
     mpg, jet-packs would be available by 1975, there would be a 
     resort at ``LunaCity'' on the Moon by 1980, Mars by 1990, and 
     Alpha Centauri by 2000.
       Today, Congress says they are `solving' an `energy-crisis,' 
     and if I just `believe' in them, I will be `delivered' from 
     the valleys of shadows and death.
       Please note, Mr. Karzai's diversion of cross-border 
     Pakistani Talibani `marauding-hoards,' and the House of 
     Saud's past-due promises to pump more oil, while Congress 
     spins their wheels-in-wheels-in-wheels of deceptions, is not 
     `solving' anything. Use of strategic reserves at this 
     critical juncture is probably not a wise move, although I 
     wish for the Clinton days of $0.89 cent/gal diesel. Your 
     entire branch of government is completely out of control. 
     THAT is the solution.
     Clayton, Priest River.
                                  ____

       I have 4 teenage boys that are big and are growing fast. 
     The increased energy costs have significantly increased the 
     cost of almost all goods. Most noticeably, our food bill has 
     nearly doubled since the first of the year. We are 
     desperately looking for any means to economize.
       Although I am able to ride my bike to work and have taken 
     several steps to minimize our fuel bills, we are feeling the 
     crunch of increased petroleum costs. We have aging parents 
     that are in need of more of our attention. Unfortunately, our 
     parents are over 400 miles away, so it costs us over $180 
     dollars to make the trip to see them and to try to help them 
     take care of their homes and properties.
       It makes sense to me that the rising cost of fuel would 
     affect our economy. My salary is not increasing, and with the 
     cost of goods and fuel increasing, we are only able to make 
     ends meet by not buying other things. This trend would seem 
     to hurt other businesses that are depending on people like me 
     to be buying their goods.
       I am an Electrical Engineer and I am very disturbed over 
     the push to skip nuclear power and move solely to renewable 
     energy. The wind and solar power options available today will 
     not meet our energy needs. Unfortunately, our country was 
     behind in providing the needed supply of energy when the 
     recent acceleration in energy costs began. I do believe that 
     renewable technologies like wind and solar can play an 
     important role in meeting future energy needs, but I think we 
     need to provide a plan that sees these technologies mature 
     and become less expensive through manufacturing advances. I 
     believe we need to develop nuclear and clean-burning coal as 
     stop-gap measures to allow the renewable technologies to 
     advance to the point where they are more cost effective. If 
     we try to move strictly to renewable energy sources, I am 
     concerned that we will face energy shortages, or will further 
     reduce consumer spending power by having to put our money in 
     the more expensive renewable energy sources.
     Gene.
                                  ____

       This is one subject I completely agree with you on. The 
     U.S. Congress has to act to allow drilling where we know we 
     have oil reserves. The stupidest statement I have ever heard 
     from Congress, which I have recently heard repeatedly, is 
     that we cannot solve our energy crisis by drilling. That is 
     about like saying we cannot solve a food shortage by planting 
     more crops!
       Last month I spent over $760 on gasoline and my wife spent 
     several hundred [dollars] also. We do not have the option of 
     using public transportation and we need larger vehicles on 
     our farms. As a farmer, while currently enjoying good prices, 
     we are seeing a big chunk of the increased income eaten up in 
     fuel costs. If crop prices were to return to ``normal'' 
     levels, it would devastate Idaho farms. Thanks for your help 
     on this important issue.
     Keith, Blackfoot.
                                  ____

       Honestly, I do not want to tell a story about how I am 
     affected by high energy prices--it is obvious. I think the 
     last thing we need is to talk about it more. The ways to 
     lower prices are out there and the Congress knows it. Just 
     get it done. Just as communism caused us to fight with all 
     our American might at home and around the world to 
     preserve our nation, so also must we view our nation's 
     energy as a cause worth pursuing with all our sweat and 
     synapses. If not, our nation will lose the strength, the 
     hope, the dream that has raised so many generations of 
     Americans before.
       Please, please do not talk anymore. Do something. You 
     should receive many reply emails. Several will have great 
     ideas (wind, solar, hydrogen, nuclear, oil). Pick the ideas 
     with the most promise and encourage their production and then 
     stay out of those geniuses' way and watch what the American 
     people can do.
     Josh, Idaho Falls.
                                  ____

       Too many people have this backwards. Most agree there is a 
     limited amount of oil we can get. We need to save our 
     reserves and use up the foreign oil first. Then when the 
     foreign oil is nearly used up we will still have some to aid 
     in the transition to other sources or energy. Save our oil 
     and use up foreign oil first.
       The last one standing with some oil wins.
     Carl.
                                  ____

       I am an Idaho Farmer. I have been deeply concerned about 
     the prices of fuel in Idaho. The price of fuel has affected 
     the cost of almost every aspect of farming from fertilizer to 
     chemicals, tires, etc. The list goes on and on. The price of 
     labor has all gone up because people cannot afford to work 
     for less. My generation might be the last generation of 
     farmers in Idaho. I personally have two sons

[[Page S8025]]

     and have encouraged them to find another way to make a living 
     because the cost of starting up and the cost of farming are 
     too prohibitive. There is no way that they can make it with 
     the price of fuels. I guess my story is that the family farm 
     is on its way out of Idaho. The families of America hold this 
     nation together. If you break up the family, the United 
     States will break as well. I guess the only way to get 
     Congress to do anything is to wait for their stomachs to 
     growl. Otherwise, if you eat you are involved in farming. No 
     farms--no food!
     Lorn.
                                  ____

       First, thank you for some leadership on this issue. I will 
     be brief. My family and I just completed an auto trip to 
     Montana and back. Fuel costs were averaging $4.05/gallon of 
     regular. The costs of travel will have a significant effect 
     on my family's recreation this year. We also have a small 
     airplane and AV gas is now $6.30 in our area meaning it now 
     costs $63.00 per hour just in fuel costs to fly the airplane 
     my family and I have enjoyed for years. Unfortunately at 
     these prices our boating costs have risen considerably. 
     Grocery costs have risen. Freight costs are going up along 
     with the airfares for the airlines. The selling price for my 
     airplane and boat if I were to sell them are going down. Many 
     families are selling their RVs because they just cannot 
     afford to recreate like they used to.
       Finally I have just retired after 31 years in my company. I 
     have a small pension and have had to cut drastically on my 
     anticipated lifestyle already. I had planned to teach flying 
     lessons as a part-time job but the marketability of flight 
     instruction may very well be priced out of the range of many 
     prospective students.
       I feel that the government and Congress have had since 1972 
     to get a grip on this problem and have done nothing except 
     band-aid and pass the buck. We need to get real, drill 
     whenever and wherever we need to immediately and reverse our 
     current bad policy on nuclear energy. We cannot remain 
     forever relying on petroleum but we need cogent policies to 
     help us get to the next best thing for our energy needs.
       We also need to put a cap on the speculating by the 
     commodity traders that are driving up the prices daily. And, 
     although I hate to say it, maybe we need to regulate a few 
     more of those items that affect us working people so much on 
     a daily basis, like utilities, phone service, cable costs and 
     fuel.
     Mike, Pocatello.
                                  ____

       Thank you for providing this forum to express my views 
     about energy prices in our fine state, their impact, and 
     solutions. I unequivocally believe that our present asset-
     depleting condition is a direct result of 30-plus years of 
     disastrous, foolhardy legislation from Congress that has made 
     it impossible for America's brilliant innovators to make us 
     energy independent. Yes, the price of gas is leading my 
     family to really think about every trip in the car, but I do 
     not want a band-aid government solution to replace the free 
     market. The following is what I believe is critical to our 
     national security, as well as comfort at the pump:
       (1) Deregulate and allow drilling in all its forms 
     everywhere, right now! Admit to decades of failed, self-
     destructive policy and move on.
       (2) Encourage, through generous incentives, the building of 
     refineries everywhere, right now!
       (3) Remove all legislative obstacles to the building of 
     nuclear plants and encourage, through generous incentives, 
     their construction everywhere, right now!
       Senator, what is frightening and of tremendous concern for 
     myself and many citizens, perhaps yourself as well, is our 
     global competitors, friend and foe alike, are rapidly growing 
     and tapping into their own energy sources, nuclear and 
     petroleum, and America has become weak and dependent. It is 
     sickening and dangerous. This must be reversed, immediately! 
     Congress needs to remember that American interests, both 
     short and long-term, must at all times be placed above those 
     of other countries or the so-called ``international 
     community.'' There is no one else on the globe looking out 
     for us. Senator, you need to do it. Thank you for your 
     excellent work on behalf of your constituents.
     Michael, Post Falls.
                                  ____

       My husband and I live in the country outside of Rexburg and 
     have to drive almost ten miles to get to town. My husband is 
     a full-time college student and works part-time. I also have 
     a part-time job and it is a struggle to fill up our gas tanks 
     every few weeks. Gas prices are shooting up but our incomes 
     are as small as ever.
       My father is a farmer and has tractors, trucks, and other 
     machinery to fuel. He has no choice. He needs those machines 
     to do his work, but it is just so expensive.
       Something needs to be done about the cost of fuel and 
     energy and it needs to be done now! We need to stop relying 
     on other countries to fuel our cars. We need to start using 
     more alternative fuel and energy sources. We have the means 
     but do we have the motivation? I hope so.
     Regency, Rexburg.
                                  ____

       You are correct regarding the adverse affect that the 
     rising cost of fuel has on the lives of all Americans 
     including the citizens of Idaho.
       We must drill for oil on American soil and pump from the 
     wells we have capped, mine clean coal in Utah and elsewhere, 
     use wind for energy where it pays, create more fuel efficient 
     engines, engineer better batteries for electric cars, make 
     affordable solar power options available where possible . . . 
     and thank God for the clean source of power we get from our 
     hydro-electric dams.
       We are a nation that was blessed by God with an abundance 
     of natural resources. However, if we don't develop them and 
     use what we have been provided with, and yet continue to 
     complain, we are fools.
       The cost of fuel is showing its effect on our small 
     business in that orders are down and costs are up. It now 
     costs double what it did two years ago to get to and from 
     work, purchase some of our materials, and pick up those 
     materials from our suppliers. We have tried not to pass the 
     rising cost of shipping on to our customers as it is already 
     high and keeps some people from purchasing our product. 
     Therefore, we take a cut in our normal profit and that means 
     less money in our pockets to spend on other products and 
     services that we would like to have and use locally.
       I work in town and there is absolutely no public 
     transportation available in this area. It is a small town in 
     the mountains of Idaho and I drive seven miles each way to 
     work every day. Many workers must drive ten to twenty miles 
     each way and it is eating into their family budgets. Now the 
     price of fuel is taking its toll on food costs. Prices are 
     getting ridiculously high and I cannot imagine trying to feed 
     a family these days. I believe in less government. But there 
     is something wrong with these high fuel costs; they are 
     unjustified and the government does need to get to the bottom 
     of it and put a stop to it now.
       The last thing that should be done is to put a higher tax 
     on our fuel and energy costs. The people who suffer the most 
     from this problem are our elderly population (and disabled) 
     who are on fixed incomes. Now they must choose whether to 
     fill the oil tank (pay the electric bill) or to eat . . . we 
     have gone sadly astray from the United States of America in 
     which I grew up, and we had better get back to our roots of 
     belief and our Constitution.
       I believe in helping others and it is a fact that Americans 
     are the most generous citizens on earth, giving to others 
     even in other nations freely on a regular basis; no nation on 
     earth gives more. However, as a country we must stop sending 
     money to other countries in the world that have problems or 
     disasters and start taking care of our own problems, 
     infrastructure, and disasters. I do not believe in socialism, 
     but we should provide for our elderly who provided for us. I 
     am sick of seeing our government pledge billions of dollars 
     of taxpayer money to countries that hate us. It is wrong and 
     foolish. . . .
       We have got a mess on our hands. Our Congress and Senate 
     need to stand up for what is right . . . and protect and 
     defend the U.S. Constitution as they swore to do. Quit being 
     swayed by interest groups, and money. Stand for what is good 
     for our Country not what is good for their pocketbook. We 
     need some men and women with character and honor . . . I hope 
     you will be a man of character and honor and serve this 
     nation as is needed. May God bless and help you in this 
     fight.
     Mrs. Kenneth.

                          ____________________