[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 141 (Monday, September 8, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8118-S8119]
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 an email address set up for these stories 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:

       Priority: Explore in this country for oil
       How do high fuel prices affect me and my family? We do not 
     travel nearly as much as before. I am telecommuting one day a 
     week. We have cut out all spending except the bare 
     essentials. We are worried about losing jobs as the economy 
     continues to collapse.
       I have no doubt that the fuel prices will continue to 
     increase as the extremists in this country continue to 
     sabotage efforts to tap local fuel sources. They are diligent 
     in their efforts to slowly undermine and destroy this 
     country. Unfortunately, there is no hope that they will be 
     stopped. I am doing what I can to not spend as much on fuel, 
     such as using a wood stove for heat in the winter. Of course, 
     the natural gas-fired furnaces are cleaner-burning, but the 
     extremists do not consider that when they ban mining for gas 
     and oil and, in a roundabout way, drive up the price of 
     everything. Wood for the stove is very cheap or free.
       I would use fossil-fuel-free transportation more than I 
     already do if the roadways were safer for that. I could use 
     my horses to get around, but the city codes and the highways 
     are not set up for that. Other people are trying to use 
     bikes. I saw a smashed bike in front of a large vehicle in 
     the middle of a busy road today. The ambulance was just 
     getting to the scene. Not too safe to use bikes.
       If nothing effective can be done to bring down fuel prices, 
     then the roadways need to be set up for using horses and 
     carts and bicycles and foot traffic. City codes need to be 
     changed to allow the use of horses and other draft animals. 
     That was the most effective method of transportation before 
     the invention of cars, and draft animals are used in other 
     countries that do not have fossil-fuel-fired vehicles. It is 
     extreme, but all I see are fuel prices going up so fast that 
     quickly most people will not be able to get around. Bicycles 
     are limited as to how much stuff you can haul. So draft 
     animals are the only way.
       With the short-sighted ban on horse slaughter, there are 
     now way too many horses around being abandoned and given 
     away. It is the perfect solution: A lot of these unwanted 
     horses can be used for transportation as soon as city codes 
     and CC&R's are changed to allow people to keep horses on 
     small land parcels. I have a few acres and pasture for my 
     horses, but a lot of people do not have that. I cannot use my 
     horses to go to the big towns because the roads are suited 
     for high-speed cars, not for horses. My horses and I would 
     end up like that bike I saw today, twisted and crumpled in 
     the road in front of some large car.
     Carole, Kuna.
                                  ____

       Thank you for the opportunity to state briefly how higher 
     energy processes are impacting my own life. I like to think 
     of myself as well-educated, environmentally responsible, and 
     having control of my life and my family finances. We are 
     fiscally responsible. We try to live to an established 
     budget. We pay our bills on time, and we set aside money for 
     a rainy day. However, with today's skyrocketing gas prices 
     and energy costs, I do not think we are going to be able to 
     sustain our current lifestyle any longer. We have made cuts 
     where we can. We have tried to reduce the number of trips we 
     need to take in our vehicles, but just doing that is not 
     nearly enough. We have had to cut out some of our luxuries 
     such as cable television. Given what is presented on 
     television these days, that was not too much of a sacrifice, 
     either. Now we are starting to wonder if we will be able to 
     get enough food on the table, or keep our kids in the clothes 
     that they need. We have 3 growing children, and it seems 
     their clothes only fit for a few weeks. Now we are 
     considering reducing the amounts we contribute to our 401K 
     investment plan, cutting out family vacations, and working 
     more hours.
       It is funny how the things that are most important in life 
     such as spending time with your children are the things that 
     must suffer because of the condition of the economy. It is 
     frustrating that we are having to cut the investments we are 
     trying to make in our future just to make ends meet today. 
     Further, every bill seems to be going up, and my salary is 
     not increasing at all. We feel lucky to have a job at all as 
     there have been many who have been laid off where I work. We 
     might be considered upper middle class, but I wonder how much 
     longer this will last as the economy and government policies 
     are slowly driving all of us into poverty.
       There are a lot of things in the world to worry about. For 
     the sake of my children, I hate to see this direction we are 
     heading in. Also, I am disappointed at how [some of] our 
     lawmakers in Washington, D.C., wish to play politics, but do 
     not seem to have any intentions on fixing the problems. All 
     we see right now [is partisian] posturing just to win votes, 
     economy be damned. They like to tell themselves that they 
     have our best interests in mind, but given the lack of 
     action, I am starting to wonder what good it is to have a 
     government at all. How bad are things going to get before 
     someone starts doing something about it?
       What can be done about it? I think we need to step it up on 
     several fronts. We need more gas and oil production here at 
     home. We need to encourage more conservation. We need to 
     demand car companies increase their mpg. We need to actively 
     encourage nuclear power production and stop listening to all 
     the crazy special interest groups that are out there. We need 
     to stop worrying about an international war that is literally 
     draining all of our resources. We have got to stop worrying 
     about universal healthcare and everything else that will not 
     succeed if we do not have a sound economy. Let us get focused 
     and do it now. If we do not, it will be too little, too late.
       Thanks for taking a minute to listen to my story. I was 
     starting to wonder if any of our politicians knew we were out 
     here.
     Jeff, Iona.
                                  ____

       It goes something like this. I am on Social Security 
     Disability, and my mother and stepfather, aunts, and uncles 
     are on Social Security. In the last ten years, the increase 
     in benefits has been around 2.5% each year. Rent has 
     increased 35%; gas, 50%+; natural gas, 30%; electricity, 35%; 
     food, 30%; and basic water fees were $18 in 1999, and now are 
     over $40.
       An economist said that the economy raising 3% per year is a 
     good thing, did not say the price of goods/services going up 
     was a good thing. He meant that those working getting a 3% 
     increase in funds to spend was a good thing.
       Thinking that I live on $750 per month, and bills are $350-
     400 per month, then trying to

[[Page S8119]]

     have insurance to drive a car, I was suspended because I had 
     none. And I thought I would save money by not driving. It 
     does not work that way, as food prices have risen over one-
     third, which makes getting insurance or paying my fines not 
     on the top of my list. [I may need to rely on friends to 
     drive me to Twin Falls to purchase groceries.]
       I understand that things are changing, but I need to ask: 
     how much profit is enough? I also think we should go back to 
     the stipend system for elected officials. Those that lead 
     this government should not be doing it for the money; it 
     should be for the honor of the position.
       I would also think that the government running its own 
     business in competition to show a profit for tax relief would 
     be a great way to show corps that it can be done, and it 
     would force the lowering of prices. I think it would be cool 
     to run a state-funded cellphone system, in areas not 
     accessible to cell. The fees could be used for taxes, as well 
     selling the towers for profit to the cellphone corps. Force 
     the suppliers to compete.
     Ed.
                                  ____

       While no one wants to pay more for anything, and most 
     people are glad to have things for cheap or free, there comes 
     a time to pay what the true value of energy is. Americans 
     have been pretty lucky to pay low energy costs for as long as 
     we have and we have become convinced that cheap energy is our 
     God-given right.
       Unfortunately, cheap energy comes at a cost, and future 
     generations have been subsidizing our cheap energy. It is sad 
     that we have been willing to pass the bill on to them in 
     terms of pollution and the national debt. Since our military 
     is in essence used to secure oil, that is another hidden 
     costs that most people do not realize that someone will have 
     to pay.
       I do not think paying more for fuel is such a bad thing 
     because I think most people overuse fuel. People need to be 
     more considerate in fuel use, and if higher prices will 
     reduce fuel use, then so be it.
       As a farmer who grows food for my local community, higher 
     fuel price actually means I can charge more for the food I 
     grow since food prices are increasing everywhere. I have low 
     transportation costs, so I will actually make more money as a 
     result. I cannot complain about that.
       If you sincerely want to do something about energy prices, 
     Senator Crapo, then I suggest you promote the development of 
     local economies, There is no need to ship and truck things 
     from halfway around the world when, in reality, we can be 
     producing what we need locally. That will reduce fuel use, 
     which will lower demand, which will lower prices. We will 
     also be reducing pollution and become more economically self-
     sufficient.
       Our current system is completely unsustainable, and to 
     complain about high fuel prices misses the point. I would 
     much rather have you fighting for sound economic and 
     environmental policies rather than continue to promote a 
     system will at some point will collapse, anyway. As a leader, 
     it is your job to make tough decisions, not pander to what 
     seems to be selfish energy use.
           Sincerely,
     Garrett, Moscow.
                                  ____

       Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the effects 
     that high gasoline prices are having on our family's budget. 
     To begin with, we are a family of six: My wife Nancy and I 
     have four children, ages 23, 21, 18, and 16. We live in 
     Boise, and both Nancy and I commute to work on bicycles. I 
     work for the State of Idaho, and my wife is a first grade 
     teacher. We enjoy the jobs we have been blessed with in 
     Boise.
       Although we have received consistent salary increases, the 
     percentages of these increases are certainly not keeping up 
     to the increases in a lot of goods and services, and most 
     notably, in gasoline costs.
       Commuting on bicycles has saved us money and kept us in 
     good shape, but it does have its risks! Our four children 
     bicycle to work, college and high school. We have one main 
     family car, and two of our children have cars. However, one 
     of the cars is currently ``off the road'' and parked in our 
     driveway. And the other one is destined for that, too. We 
     still use the family car for a number of local trips, but we 
     try to avoid or combine them when possible.
       We are planning to take a trip to California in less than 
     two weeks. Each year we take a group of people to help at a 
     place called Gleanings for the Hungry, which is a Christian 
     volunteer organization that processes food and ships it to 
     hungry people all over the world.
       We considered taking two vehicles for the seven people who 
     are in our part of the team, but instead we may all crowd 
     into our minivan in order to save gas money and wear and tear 
     on the other car.
       So, Senator, these are the ways that the high gas prices 
     have affected us. I do not think that we will see lower gas 
     prices again, so it is time for all of us to use our ``Yankee 
     Ingenuity'' and make the best of this situation.
           Sincerely,
     Ken.
                                  ____

       I am not surprised in the least that the situation is what 
     it is. Actually, I am a little surprised that energy costs 
     are not much higher at this time. I have been in contact with 
     my Federal Representative, the Honorable Mike Simpson, 
     regarding your update letter, namely, the high cost of 
     gasoline, and energy in general. I sent him a link to a 
     speech given in 2006, by a man that was present, for three 
     years, on the building of the Alaska pipeline. His words 
     were, ``. . . I am considering your suggestion to accelerate 
     completion of the Alaskan pipeline with great interest.'' 
     What say you, Senator?
       The oil reserves that we hold are more than sufficient, to 
     not only bring our pump prices down, but also allow us to pay 
     off our outrageous, $9.3 Trillion national debt, in the space 
     of five years, and allow us to consume oil for the next 200 
     years or so (at least!). Perhaps you, Senator Crapo, would be 
     willing to watch this video. You, too, will be enlightened, 
     as I have been by this knowledge, and perhaps will be 
     persuaded to come to the aid of your country, in our darkest 
     hour. This is a link to the video--http://wideeyecinema.com/
?p=203.
     Curt, Boise.
                                  ____

       Being a sort of forward-looking individual, in 2005 we 
     purchased a Volkswagen Jetta with a diesel engine. It is a 
     wonderful little car, but the unique thing about it is that 
     it gets fifty as in 50 miles per gallon. Now I have watched 
     as our illustrious leadership have mollycoddled the 
     automobile makers here in the U.S. and even actually required 
     the raising of the automobile mileage here in this country to 
     a measly 35 miles per gallon average for vehicles. This when 
     vehicles running on diesel already get way more than that! 
     Now we do not drive that much because of gas and diesel 
     prices, but since I can drive nearly 700 miles on a 14-gallon 
     tank of gas, how often do you think we fill up? Admittedly, 
     the prices of a tank of gas amaze us each time we do fill up, 
     but still, we can, and often do, go a month without buying 
     diesel. Even if I were to drive to ``town'' every day, I 
     could drive almost half a month without filling up!
       While such action by our leadership I guess is to be 
     expected, I would like to know when [Congress] will ever get 
     enough gumption to provide leadership for this nation? As a 
     sort of forward-looking individual, I guess it would be fair 
     to say that waiting for anyone living and working within the 
     Beltway to provide any kind of leadership on energy is 
     probably a moot point. While [partisan battles cloud 
     everything,] the world forges ahead, trying hard to ignore 
     the lack of ability to get anything done.
       We hire you (elect you) to provide leadership, guide the 
     country in and out of crises but, to be quite frank, [I am 
     extremely disappointed in the partisanship that seems to 
     permeate everything that happens in Congress]. The 
     congressional confidence level is, as you know, at the lowest 
     level ever. Somebody has to do something--even if it is 
     wrong!
       Since I do not work in your environment, I do not have a 
     remedy for the environment of ``do nothing'' that seems 
     pervasive in the Beltway. I do believe, however, that all 
     influence from well-paid lobbyists and those with more money 
     that they know what to do with should be put in some kind of 
     less effective position relative to policy influence. While I 
     understand that people need to be able to contact the people 
     representing them, they should be limited to doing so only by 
     the same means as the rest of us who do not and cannot have 
     someone following legislators around influencing them at 
     every turn.
       Sorry, Senator, to rant about this on your forum for high 
     energy prices. But I do not think [the current leadership] 
     has or is providing any leadership in this or a variety of 
     other areas. It seems as if we, the public, have to solve our 
     own problems while Congress muddles around [in partisan 
     bickering.] I have a car that gets 50 miles per gallon of 
     fuel--what does your car get? What do your staff cars get? 
     How many of you use any of the many kinds of ``commuter'' 
     transportation available within the beltway?
       Have a good day--please try and help us working on the 
     energy problem solve it!
     Raymond and Sherry.
                                  ____

       Today I filled \3/4\ of my car's gas tank. It cost $80 
     plus. Need I say more?
     Grant, Boise.
                                  ____

       Thank you for expressing an interest in the situation of 
     one family here in Lewiston. Any time we plan to drive 
     somewhere, we give more thought to the need for the trip and 
     whether it can be postponed or eliminated. In deciding 
     whether to travel, the miles to be driven and our estimated 
     fuel consumption (cost) are discussed. My wife works at LCSC 
     (Lewis Clark State College). Instead of my driving her to her 
     office, I now walk with her to work. The walk saves fuel and 
     gives us time together. Now that the summer air conditioning 
     season is here, we are keeping the thermostat at about 75 
     deg. If the electric bill is much higher we will raise the 
     thermostat again. With the increased cost of groceries, we 
     are starting to shop in Clarkston, WA; i.e. no state sales 
     tax. Instead of eating out several times a week, we may only 
     go out once now. When getting gasoline, I limit my purchase 
     to about $20, or, about 5 gallons.
       We spend a lot of time trying to figure out why in a 
     country with so many natural resources and safe nuclear power 
     we are not developing addition resources for the benefit of 
     the population. Why is an ever expanding polar bear 
     population more important than American citizens?
       Thanks for expressing an interest.
                                                     Al and Holly.




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