[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 17, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8939-S8940]
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 the e-mail address set up for this purpose 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:

       The increased energy costs have had a profound effect on my 
     ability to meet the needs of myself and my family. My oldest 
     son broke his leg in June 2007. It was a life-threatening 
     break, he is not healing properly and will continue to be 
     unable to work for another six months at a minimum. The 
     family was evicted from their home and are struggling to 
     survive. They receive food stamps and medical assistance, but 
     nothing else. Fortunately I have a trailer house, which they 
     were able to move in to. I currently pay their electricity 
     and transportation to and from medical appointments, getting 
     groceries, etc. not to mention extracurricular activities for 
     the children, as well as my own utilities and gasoline. I 
     have paid nearly $500 per month during the winter months for 
     our electricity and am still paying over $300 each month. My 
     job requires me to travel daily, and I average 500 miles per 
     week in mileage. With the excessive costs of gasoline and 
     electricity, I am currently working 45-50 hours each week and 
     still falling behind on my bills. I do not have credit card 
     debt, but have a student loan I cannot pay and one other 
     small loan. My only other debts consist of a house payment, 
     car payment, and property taxes. I am at risk of losing my 
     house in a year because I cannot pay the taxes. My ex-husband 
     is threatening to take the property away because I cannot 
     afford to pay him $100 per month to finish buying him out. I 
     will be 51 this month and am not in the best of health--but I 
     do what I have to in order to provide for myself and my 
     family. I take medication but am not able to get my 
     prescription filled because I owe the doctor $44 and he will 
     not call in a new script until he is paid. That payment to 
     the doctor is one tank of gas--that is all--and I could die, 
     or worse have a stroke, without my medication. Something 
     needs to change, and soon.
     Barbara, South Central Idaho. 
                                  ____

       I received your email asking for Idahoans' stories related 
     to the increase in gas prices, and I appreciate that these 
     prices are affecting everyone and that you are working to 
     fight them. Further, I support that you fought the Warner-
     Lieberman bill, though probably not for the reasons that you 
     did. However, I am writing to ask that you do, in fact, 
     seriously consider Representative Ed Markey's new bill, 
     ``Investing in Climate Action Policy Act.'' While I admit 
     that I am unsure of the impact that this bill will have on 
     gas prices, I seriously believe that we must begin to enact 
     bills that combat climate change. Being from Idaho, I am sure 
     that we both appreciate the outdoors and how beautiful places 
     like the Sawtooths and the Frank Church Wilderness are. 
     However, I feel that the beauty that we are currently able to 
     find here is threatened by global warming, and I entreat you 
     to do something about it. Representative Markey's bill is a 
     good start.
       You asked about the priorities that Congress should set in 
     resolving the oil crisis, with ``increasing domestic oil 
     production'' at the top of your list. However, I do not 
     believe that this is a reasonable option. The U.S. hit peak 
     oil years ago, there simply is not that much more to get out 
     of here. Also, when you think of domestic oil, please think 
     of ANWR. Imagine if, instead of in ANWR, oil was found in the 
     Sawtooths. Could you really, in good faith, support taking 
     oil out of the Sawtooths?
       Instead, I believe that one of the options you suggested is 
     by far the best. There should be incentives for conservation 
     of oil. Ultimately, the incentive will be more money in your 
     pocket, because quite honestly, I believe the oil prices will 
     keep going up until it becomes too expensive for people to 
     use so freely and they begin to conserve it in order to save 
     money. However, a good short term idea would be to set up 
     incentives and to invest in alternative fuels. Ultimately, we 
     will run out of oil and I only hope that when that time comes 
     we are prepared for it, and prepared to switch entirely to 
     renewable energy sources.
       Thank you for your time.
           Sincerely,
     Samantha, Boise.
                                  ____

       I am married, with three young kids, ages 9, 7, and 5. I am 
     a detective for the Ada County Sheriff's Office, and I make 
     just over $60,000 a year. My wife works part-time out of our 
     house as a Pampered Chef consultant, and probably makes about 
     $10-15,000 per year, after taxes and deductions.
       We have a strict cash budget, and have no debt except for 
     our house. We own a 7-year-old Dodge Durango, and a 14-year-
     old Chevy Camaro, both gas guzzlers. We are actually in a 
     pretty good financial position, and are blessed.
       We currently budget $100 every two weeks for fuel. This 
     increased from about $60 recently. Part of the increase was 
     because we sold our Toyota Corolla (good gas mileage), and 
     got our Camaro (not so good). However, I would blame most of 
     the increase on the rising gas prices. (We sold the Corolla 
     because it was our last debt that we wanted to pay off, and 
     start over debt free.)
       We are able to survive on this $100 because we have reduced 
     our driving dramatically. We put a lot more thought into our 
     daily errands, etc. We have been riding our bicycles as much 
     as possible, but only for short distances because of our 
     young kids.
       Unfortunately, all of this ``thinking'' about our driving 
     limits our freedom. I have not felt this limited by fuel 
     costs since I was in high school, and barely had a couple 
     bucks to put in my gas tank. This past weekend I took my boys 
     camping. I wanted to go to a favorite place I went to as a 
     kid, but it is four hours away. Because of gas prices, I was 
     not able to do that, and settled on CJ Strike Reservoir, 
     which must be similar to ANWR, a mosquito paradise, so we 
     left a day early after my son got bit 31 times.
       We regular citizens are frustrated at the lack of action by 
     our Congress. I am not an economist, but I believe the very 
     statement by our government that we are going to begin using 
     our own natural resources for energy, would potentially 
     reduce gas prices. I realize that the liberals in Congress 
     are the problem. In Idaho, we are blessed by some pretty good 
     representatives.
       I appreciate all you can do for our families.
       Take care, and God Bless.
     Matt, Meridian. 
                                  ____

       You have got to be kidding!! Only $50 more per month? My 
     fuel bills have doubled in the last year and you only think 
     they have gone up $50? What world are you living in? The fact 
     of the matter is, for a farmer in Idaho, our fuel bills have 
     nearly doubled. My fuel bill to deliver my fish has gone from 
     $800 per week to over $1500 per week.
       To answer your question, I believe the CEO from Shell when 
     he said to the Senate, the real cost of oil should be between 
     $35 and $60 per barrel--all costs over and above that amount 
     are because of government.
       You do not listen, you do not know, and you pretend to 
     care. (There are many issues that have come before Congress 
     that have not taken the public's best interests to heart, and 
     have caused us more expense and trouble. Among those issues 
     are the Public Employees investment funds, domestic oil 
     drilling, Chinese allowed to drill right off our own coast 
     when we cannot, NAFTA, nuclear power support, devaluation of 
     the dollar, terrorists given rights by the Supreme Court.)

[[Page S8940]]

       (Given my frustration with Congress, you can imagine how I 
     feel about your last statement, ``together we can spur some 
     real action?'' The only thing that seems to happen is the 
     Congress spends more money and expends a lot of hot air.)
       It ought to be interesting when fuel gets to $6.
       I doubt anyone on your staff will read this; you certainly 
     will not, but have a nice day anyway.
     Don, Buhl.
                                  ____

       I, being a retired person on a fixed income, [find] it is 
     very hard to get by. The prices are up for most everything 
     because of delivery costs. I will be 70 years old this summer 
     and I have no choice but to go cut, split and stack firewood 
     so I can afford to heat my home next winter. The government 
     should have been doing something about it two years ago and 
     not waited until folks are ready to revolt countrywide.
       OPEC sells oil for $136.00 a barrel.
       OPEC nations buy U.S. grain at $7.00 a bushel.
       Solution: Sell grain for $136.00 a bushel.
       Cannot afford it, tough! Eat your oil!
       Ought to go well with a nice thick grilled filet of camel 
     (steak).
           Unsigned.
                                  ____

       Since you asked for our energy stories I will submit this 
     one. My wife and I own three vehicles, a 2000 Buick, a 1992 
     Ford Bronco and a 2006 Suzuki motorcycle (an on-off road 
     type). I ride my bike everywhere I can and my wife takes the 
     car. I scrape the frost off my bike seat some mornings 
     because, for every trip I take the Bronco to work, I can take 
     the bike three times. We have to drive and it takes 30 
     gallons to fill the Bronco. At $3.94 a gallon, it really adds 
     up. I rode my bike into December last year and broke it out 
     in March this year. If the roads were bare and there was not 
     a threat of snow, I rode it. I remember the 1980s when the 
     speed limit was lowered to 55 mph to conserve fuel so that is 
     what I do now again. If it helped then, I hope it will help 
     now. This is not a noble plan to conserve energy; it is a 
     trial to spend so much on fuel and I can cut costs this way.
       Maybe you can explain why our ``friends'' who supply us the 
     oil need to gouge us so badly. Maybe $120.00 for a barrel of 
     wheat would make the point in all export sales going to oil 
     producing nations. And speaking of the high price of gas, do 
     we export wheat and other food grains cheaper than we can buy 
     it here at home? Are our shortages caused by or aided by 
     sales to export markets? If so, that is wrong! We need to 
     take care of American needs first. I really do not mind 
     sharing what I have with my neighbors but I'll feed my kids 
     first.
       Thanks for listening,
     Mark.
                                  ____

       I do appreciate your concern about gas prices for those in 
     Idaho. I lived in Idaho last year when I signed up for your 
     newsletters, I now live in Washington, Tri Cities, where we 
     pay approximately 25 cents more per gallon than most do in 
     Idaho. I am writing because my daughter lives in Sandpoint 
     where gas prices are about the same as here. She has a 
     disabled daughter that requires my daughter to take her to 
     Spokane, Washington, about 70 miles one way. Due to the 
     increase in gas prices, she has had to miss some of her 
     doctor's appointments.
       I believe that we have enough domestic oil to keep this 
     country going for at least enough years to allow us to 
     develop an alternative energy source. So I do not understand 
     why that we are paying such high prices, except that the Big 
     Oil Companies are making a fortune off the American People 
     that can hardly afford to feed their families now due to the 
     increase in cost. Also from what I can see, the prices are 
     going to continue to rise and run our economy into the ground 
     due to the greed of the Big Oil.
       Put a windfall profit tax on them and they will rethink 
     what they are doing. We cannot afford to keep paying higher 
     prices for gas, which is increasing the cost of everything 
     that is delivered by truck. Our economy is in a downward 
     spiral and, if Congress does not stop it, then there will be 
     no economy left in a couple of years.
     Arnold, West Richland, Washington.
                                  ____

       As a United States citizen and fellow Idahoan, I feel the 
     need to share my financial pain with you about what it is 
     like to pay for high fuel (gasoline, diesel) prices. Like 
     anyone with an automobile, I pay more at the pump to the tune 
     of around $50-$100 more per month. I think this pales in 
     comparison to how much more I am paying for any commodity 
     sold through any retail outlet. Nearly everything in the good 
     old U.S.A. travels down our highways, and the extra costs of 
     these goods is eating away at any disposable income I might 
     have had for, let us say, dinner out one night, a night at 
     the movies, etc. My income did not see this exponential rise 
     to help combat the higher cost of living. Therefore I spend 
     less on other things, which in turn, does not help my local 
     economy. Multiply my woes by the hundreds of thousands like 
     me, or worse off than myself, and we will continue to see our 
     economy in decline.
       As for a fix, I will give my opinion on this as well. Why 
     is an energy source like crude oil any different from 
     electricity and natural gas? Am I going out on a limb by 
     saying, although my heating and cooling bills have gone up, 
     they haven't quadrupled in the last eight years. Why? Well as 
     you know the government does not allow the companies that 
     sell us power or natural gas to just raise prices whenever 
     they feel like it. Should not we treat big oil companies the 
     same way? What is the difference between the need for one 
     source of power and another?
       The U.S. economy is so incredibly dependent on petroleum 
     products, I think it is irresponsible of our government 
     officials to not step in and provide some long term relief 
     for the U.S. consumer/citizen. Step it up and take control of 
     this situation before we all are made to suffer through a 
     multi-year recession.
       Thank you for your time.
     Tom, Lewiston.
                                  ____

       Thank you for your e-letter of this date. In the Big Lost 
     River Valley, mass transit will not be efficient, but 
     neighbors can be increasingly efficient. We and our neighbors 
     are beginning a neighborhood plan whereby we coordinate 
     medical, pharmacy, dental, shopping and other errands, mostly 
     to Idaho Falls, nearly 90 miles distant, to reduce individual 
     gasoline purchases. By previewing times and schedules, we can 
     accomplish numerous tasks in the destination city with fewer 
     vehicles/travel. My neighbors and I agree substantially with 
     the points made in your e-letter: aggressively promote 
     increased domestic production and refining of gas and oil 
     products, nuclear power/electricity production and electric 
     and hydrogen power for automobiles. The unintended 
     consequences of the ethanol program will lead us to proper 
     caution about alternative fuels. Thank you for your good 
     works.
           Most respectfully,
     David, Darlington.
                                  ____

       I think the current U.S. government may be on the way to 
     causing civil war!!! You hear it on the streets, how [angry] 
     people are getting at [the inaction. The environmentalists 
     seem to hold undue influence over decisions and legislation 
     from Congress. I do not believe that global warming is a 
     threat. Both political parties have not been able to address 
     the public's concerns about energy, and the federal 
     government just keeps spending more and more taxpayer 
     dollars.]
       Drill here, drill now.
       Secure the border.
     Dwayne.
                                  ____

       My husband and I are seniors; we are in our 70s. We are not 
     suffering as much from the high gas prices as our 
     grandchildren are. Our youngest grandson is 17, and we have 
     grandchildren who are 26. Boise wages are not the greatest, 
     so it is really putting a dent in their budgets when gas 
     prices are so high. I have wanted a decent transit (bus) 
     system in Boise and Ada County forever. We have lived in 
     Boise since June 1970. I came from Portland, Oregon. That is 
     a city that can be very proud of their transit system. The 
     buses run day and night, seven days a week.
       I do not know why Boise has to be so slow with progress. A 
     good bus system would be invaluable now. There has to be a 
     transfer system so you can get where you need to go. I wish 
     some of the ``powers that be in Boise'' would go to Portland 
     and study their bus (transit) system.
       I have a sister who lives in Salem, Oregon, the state 
     capital, and they have a wonderful bus system also. Boise is 
     a state capital and our bus system is tragic. Look at the gas 
     that could be saved if people could ride buses and could 
     depend on buses. A street car system downtown is not going to 
     help very many people! I do drive, and I drive a large car. I 
     never go downtown, but if there was a good bus system that I 
     could use, I would bus downtown a lot. I live out by 5 Mile 
     and Victory and where I live there are no buses.
           Sincerely,
     Sally.
                                  ____

       This probably does not fit your agenda, but actually, 
     gasoline prices have been a lot worse. I paid a much higher 
     percentage of my income when I was stationed overseas. The 
     Energy Information Administration says we were reaching much 
     deeper into our pockets to pay for gasoline in 1980 than last 
     year. The real difference is that today's money buys less 
     value. So, the best way the government can keep gasoline 
     affordable is to stop creating inflation. The next thing you 
     could do is require automobile makers to deliver cars that 
     get better mileage. USA cars need to be more competitive.
     Jim.

                          ____________________