[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 185 (Wednesday, December 10, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10876-S10878]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                IDAHOANS SPEAK OUT ON HIGH ENERGY PRICES

  Mr. CRAPO. Madam 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 well over 1,200, are 
heartbreaking and touching. While energy prices have dropped in recent 
weeks, the concerns expressed remain very relevant. To respect the 
efforts of those who took the opportunity to share their thoughts, I am 
submitting every e-mail sent to me through an address set up 
specifically 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:

       This in response to your request for stories from Idaho 
     citizens about the impact of rising gas prices on our lives. 
     We are fortunate in that, though the increased prices are a 
     drain, they do not put us in financial jeopardy. However, we 
     are taking steps to decrease our use of gasoline. We both 
     have bicycles and have started using them to run some of our 
     errands, visit friends and, on occasion, travel to and from 
     work. We consolidate errands to avoid multiple trips. When 
     driving I avoid quick stops and starts and

[[Page S10877]]

     get off the gas when on a down slope. If I use a drive up and 
     will have to wait, I turn off the engine. We never let our 
     vehicles idle in cold weather to warm up. This is a waste 
     that is endemic in Idaho.
       As regards for suggestions for ways the government can 
     help, I agree with supporting alternative energy sources; 
     however, I do not see how nuclear energy will offset gasoline 
     use. My understanding is that part of our problem is lack of 
     sufficient numbers or modern refineries. With the oil 
     companies enjoying record profits, they should be dealing 
     with this issue. It does not make sense to me for the 
     taxpayer to foot the bill for this. More can be done to 
     support development of non-food sources of ethanol, e.g. 
     switch grass and other non-food plants; and waste products 
     from wood products industries and crop waste such as corn and 
     other grain stalks. Support is needed for development of 
     better public transportation such as buses and light rail. 
     Use of roundabouts instead of signals or stop signs at 
     intersections will also consume less fuel and produce less 
     pollution. I am not sure how you provide incentives to people 
     for conserving energy in their driving practices but anything 
     that can educate people about how to conserve would probably 
     be useful. One positive about the high cost of gasoline is 
     that people are finally thinking about how they can conserve. 
     Gas has been so cheap that we have been very careless in our 
     usage and neither the populace nor the government has had 
     much incentive to conserve through driving practices, design 
     of vehicles or development and use of public transportation. 
     I love the convenience of my car but I think all of us are 
     going to have to look at some lifestyle changes if we want to 
     decrease our dependence on foreign oil.
       Thank you for soliciting input from your constituents.
     Faye, Boise.
                                  ____

       Energy costs have taken it is toll in our household. Both 
     my husband and I have gotten second jobs part time just to 
     make ends meet. If it were just the hike in energy costs we 
     would have to say to ourselves grin and bear it. But 
     everything across the board has increased.
       Soaring food prices: What was an average of $70 per week 
     has now increased to $140-$150 per week. And it is increasing 
     each week. Standard monthly bills have increased by at least 
     $3 per month. It might not seem much of an increase but there 
     again, across-the-board monthly increases add up over the 
     months.
       We have definitely changed our life styles. No dining out. 
     We drive only when we have to. And when we do have to go out, 
     we make sure we do everything we have to do in one trip. We 
     make sure lights are turned off when not in use, and we 
     refrain from using the air conditioner. Laundry day is now 
     only twice a week. We try to BBQ as much as possible so we 
     can save by not using our gas range.
       We have never seen things as bad as they are today. We do 
     not except any hands-outs from our government, but there are 
     millions of people who are suffering right now and were 
     afraid millions more to follow.
       Where is the government in all of this? Why cannot 
     government solve these problems? We Americans pay taxes, but 
     it would seem our tax money is being mismanaged. It is plain 
     to see this government does not have its peoples' best 
     interest at heart. Congress does not have their priorities 
     straight. Energy and the economy should come first! Without 
     middle-class Americans, where will the government be? Sad as 
     it is, middle-class America is fading!
       Government (Congress) needs to stop discussing the problems 
     and start taking action now. Wind power, nuclear power, with 
     all the hi-tech advantage this nation holds, they cannot find 
     a way? Stop playing the blame games and work together to 
     solve these and many other problems.
     The Marshalls, Meridian.
                                  ____

       We are a small family living what we consider to be a 
     decent life in a rural Idaho community. The increasing gas 
     prices have affected the costs of other things, such as 
     groceries, to increase in price as well. In an effort to keep 
     the added costs from impacting our standard of living too 
     much we have taken a few steps, such as:
       Attending church closer to home.
       Limiting shopping trips to a bare minimum.
       Watering lawns less, so that it will grow less, requiring 
     less mowing.
       Driving a 40 mpg car, when we'd rather run something more 
     comfortable and safer.
       Passing on taking trips to see family; our nearest family 
     members are 350 miles away.
       Buying things locally, as opposed to shopping at places 
     like Costco since the cost of a trip to Costco down by Boise 
     is very costly.
       Buying a whole beef, as opposed to supermarket cuts, saving 
     a couple of dollars per pound, depending upon the cut.
       Buying items in bulk, including flour, detergents, etc.
       Baking our own brownies, cookies, rolls, and breads. The 
     cost of grain products has gone very high, and bakery 
     products have increased substantially.
       Making sourdough waffles and pancakes to save on the cost 
     of pancake flour.
       Making our own ice cream.
       Making our own fruit rollups.
       Foregoing physicians visits as much as absolutely possible, 
     passing on new eyeglasses.
       Taking Benadryl as opposed to prescription allergy meds, 
     even though the Benadryl makes us drowsy and does not work as 
     well--the cost is much lower.
       Making our own pastas.
       Making homemade salads as opposed to buying deli salads.
       Doing our own haircuts, hair coloring, and perms at home, 
     using home products, instead of going to the salon or barber 
     shop.
       Quit dining out, all meals can come from home--this 
     includes packing lunches.
       Mowing our lawn ourselves, instead of hiring a neighborhood 
     boy to do it for us.
       Giving up ``date night'', and movies, both in theater and 
     rental movies.
       Staying home more.
       Changing our son to a less expensive day care.
       If things get worse we will have to look at other things, 
     such as:
       Growing a garden, and canning/freezing fruits and veggies.
       Putting in several fruit trees.
       Buying a whole pork, instead of retail cuts.
       Fishing to put in freezer for future meals.
       Raising chickens, both for eggs and meat.
       Sewing some of our own clothing items.
       Walking to work--a round trip including daycare is about 
     4.5 mile.
       These higher costs have us very concerned; something must 
     be done to bring things back into balance.
       If many other people adopt habits like we have, and are 
     considering, there will be a ripple through effect of job 
     loss. We are spending less in the grocery store, less from 
     the butcher, less with diners, delis, movie rental places, 
     theaters, the bakery, barber shop and beauty shop, just to 
     mention a few. We are also buying fewer ready to eat or cook 
     with products, and are making our foods from scratch.
       If we start actually growing and raising our own foods the 
     effects will ripple through the economy as well--especially 
     if lots of other people feel the need to do the same.
       We are not living in ``pioneer'' times, but we may have to 
     live like we are if prices continue to spiral out of control. 
     Going into debt just to cover daily living expenses is simply 
     not an option.
       Please encourage your fellow members of Congress to require 
     the development of domestic oil.
       Furthermore, please press a mandate on the production of 
     hydrogen fueled vehicles, with the availability of fueling 
     sources mandated as well. We need to be getting ourselves 
     weaned off of the fossil fuels--since they cannot possibly 
     last forever.
     Sharene, Weiser.
                                  ____

       Four of us are employed at Grounds Maintenance Equipment, 
     Inc. in Boise, by the fairgrounds. We all live in Emmett. 
     Three commute together. Last week we all shifted to a 10-
     hour, four-day week, because the commuting costs (gasoline) 
     left us no choice.
       There is no quick solution. It seems that the Left cannot 
     do more than one thing at a time. They cannot promote 
     conservation--a worthy enterprise--and consider drilling, in 
     the same year. It is my opinion that there is a long-term 
     agenda being promoted by the Dems to turn America into a 
     socialist dictatorship. I cannot envision any other reason 
     they do what they do.
     Mel and Rosie, Emmett.
                                  ____

       Thanks for the email. You are completely correct--high gas 
     prices are making things difficult. Although, gas is only one 
     of the many things that are getting more and more expensive. 
     Food costs are going through the roof. The only thing that is 
     not rising fast is, unfortunately, our wages. I would like to 
     see our leadership make a real effort to raise wages to a 
     livable level. A livable wage in Idaho is like $10 something 
     per hour, higher in counties like Ada and Blaine.
       Unfortunately, I believe your policy solutions are sadly 
     misguided. Domestic drilling will not significantly reduce 
     prices for the consumer. Nuclear energy is among the most 
     expensive ways to produce energy. It relies on taxpayer 
     dollars to make it economically viable. And both are terrible 
     for the environment. I hope you take the time to reassess 
     these policies.
     Doug.
                                  ____

       My husband and I live very frugally. Due to his brain 
     injury, we have to wait incredible lumps of time for Social 
     Security Disability appeal. He and I are in agreement that 
     the ``energy crisis'' is a social agenda of the green 
     movement that has been in place for decades.
       With that said, we are in favor of nuclear energy that is a 
     proven benefit and drilling for our domestic oil. Often the 
     legislators and others opposed to such drilling say it would 
     be too long to build refineries to find relief. I believe 
     that the American people would be patient with the time it 
     takes to build them and be willing to suffer the gas prices 
     knowing we had hope to sustain our own oil provisions and not 
     be dependent on foreign oil.
     Yvonne and Mark, Meridian.
                                  ____

       Thank you for inviting our comments on this problem. My 
     wife and I retired in 2003 with a financial plan that made a 
     lot of sense: we sold our home and bought a motor home, which 
     we used for two years to see some of these great United 
     States. Then we lived in it in Emmett while building our 
     retirement home here. We cleaned up the motor home to sell 
     it, which was an integral part of our plan because the 
     payments on it were $1200 per month.
       You probably guessed the rest of the story. We have a large 
     mortgage on our new house

[[Page S10878]]

     and our investments have performed less well than we might 
     have hoped. But the biggest problem we have is that in a year 
     and a half we have not had a single offer on our motor home. 
     Friends tell us we will not be able to sell it. We took it to 
     Bretz RV in Missoula, MT, one of the leading sellers of RVs 
     including consignment sales. That was last August. We have 
     dropped the price below what we owe on it and still cannot 
     get any offers. The price of diesel is what is causing the 
     market for motor homes to dry up. In short, our retirement 
     cash flow is in trouble due to fuel prices, not to mention 
     our costs have skyrocketed.
       We are thoroughly disillusioned by our government's refusal 
     to tell the environmentalists to go pound sand and let our 
     oil companies develop the enormous oil and natural gas 
     reserves we have, while competitor nations drill for our 
     right off our shores. The ``pristine parkland'' in ANWR is a 
     hoax--we have seen pictures of the small area where drilling 
     rights were sought. We need nuclear power plants to be built 
     as quickly as possible, oil refineries as quickly as 
     possible, and the development of those resources.
       Yes, alternative energy sources are a good thing, and we 
     need eventually to phase out the gasoline auto, but this 
     takes time. The government is responsible for our 
     predicament, in our opinion, and needs to start putting the 
     needs of America ahead of politics.
     Tim and Peggy, Emmett.
                                  ____

       Thank you for giving us an opportunity to share our story 
     with you. We are most definitely feeling the effects of the 
     ever-increasing costs of fuel. We are a family of six. We own 
     three cars and have four drivers. Our college-age daughter 
     chose a summer job that was close to home just so she can 
     save on gas money. We have been discussing how we will make 
     ends meet with the rising fuel costs. We have decided to pull 
     our youngest children (ages 11 and 13) out of piano lessons. 
     They were in their 3rd and 5th year respectively. Our 
     daughter, Katie, may have to give up flute lessons. Katie has 
     been volunteering at St. Luke's Hospital for the past two 
     years. She was hoping to volunteer there through her senior 
     year of high school, but it may soon cost too much to get her 
     there and back. Our son is volunteering at the Garden City 
     Library. He is enjoying it, but we are uncertain how long he 
     will be able to participate once again because the amount it 
     costs us to get him there. We are a family that believes in 
     volunteering and giving of our time and resources--but there 
     is only so much we can do. We have recently switched to a 
     doctor in Eagle just so we would not have to travel into 
     downtown Boise. We evaluate every time we plan to go 
     somewhere--can we really afford the gas? We have even denied 
     our kids the opportunity to go to mid-week youth group at 
     church because it is in Southeast Boise--too far to drive. We 
     feel badly for the other families/organizations our decisions 
     will affect--two moms who give piano/flute lessons from their 
     homes, the volunteer office at St. Luke's, the library, etc. 
     We do not have the luxury of buying newer more fuel-efficient 
     cars; we must do with what we have.
       We are extremely frustrated with Congress over its 
     inability to do anything constructive to solve the problem, 
     which for the most part they are responsible for causing. We 
     support drilling for our own oil both offshore and in ANWR. 
     We support building more refineries. We also fully support 
     the expansion of our nuclear energy facilities, mining of 
     coal and oil shale in addition to renewable forms of energy 
     such as wind and solar. More hearings and investigations on 
     ``Big Oil'' and speculators is a waste of time along with 
     taxing ``windfall profits''. Pleases urge your peers to do 
     something constructive to solve the problem.
       Thanks again for this opportunity.
     Kelly and Kristi, Eagle.
                                  ____

       I work at the INL but commute 45 minutes both ways to work; 
     my husband also works in Idaho Falls. However, we work at 
     different times--my work begins at 7:00 and off at 4:30. He 
     starts at 10 and off at 6--so we both drive. At the present 
     time, we are considering selling our home of 35 years and 
     moving closer to Idaho Falls. We are spending over $110 a 
     week with the two cars making the trip to Idaho Falls five 
     times a week. I have started a car pool with a few employees 
     that will help some, but the fact is--it hurts. For the first 
     time in many years, we are finding ourselves in financial 
     distress.
       We do not want to sell the house, we have raised our kids 
     there--we love it. And, we do not want to sell it at this 
     time when the market is such that we will not get from it 
     what it is worth.
       There has to be a better way. I hope you can find it. Good 
     luck.
     Unsigned.
                                  ____

       We should not lean on foreign oil providers to lower their 
     prices when we have enough oil under American soil to last 
     for hundreds of years. The so-called environmentalists have 
     caused this massive problem which has the possibility to sink 
     America.
       I like the scene of oil rigs on the horizon, it is a 
     beautiful landscape. I do not believe the so-called 
     environmentalists care one whit about our environment, they 
     are out to see America die, and they are well on their way to 
     accomplishing their goal.
       A word to the wise.
     Curt, Wilder.
                                  ____

       As a country, we had plenty of time to both prepare for and 
     possibly prevent the situation we are in. However, we cannot 
     change the past and now we are going to march into a new and 
     different world. I wonder whether we will be smarter this 
     time.
       Frankly, I see the silver lining in the increased cost of 
     energy. We are going to have to incentivize the discovery and 
     use of new, sustainable forms of energy. Maybe we'll think 
     long term instead of searching for the short term fixes.
       We will get a chance to pay more attention to our local 
     communities rather than driving away for fun or shipping 
     produce (and water!) from the other side of the planet. We 
     will get a glimpse of how a large part of the rest of the 
     world lives. We'll start appreciating and caring for what we 
     have rather than strive for ever increasing heights of 
     consumption. We'll ride bikes, fix sidewalks, meet neighbors 
     and save our energy use for when using energy is really 
     necessary. Maybe we'll even revisit one of the most taboo of 
     subjects--whether we should curb population growth. (Just 
     think--\1/100\th the population means 100 times the 
     resources.)
       So, there you have it. The energy ``crisis'' is of our own 
     making. We had our chances, but maybe now we'll pay 
     attention. The question is whether the transition to a world 
     of scarcity will be peaceful or turbulent. In times of 
     stress, those with the most resources are often the least 
     affected, yet they often control positions of leadership. By 
     the way . . . if you thought an energy shortage was a big 
     thing, wait till the water crisis hits. It is going to be a 
     lot worse.
     George, Idaho Falls.

                          ____________________