[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 9 (Thursday, January 15, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S594-S596]
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 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:

       Well, gas prices have a direct impact on my driving habits. 
     I have been trying to use the public bus at least twice a 
     week to get to work. It takes me about 35 minutes more each 
     way, but if I plan my after work errands needing a car for 
     one day, then I can bank that extra time for the bus ride. 
     I'm lucky to live in Boise where there is some type of public 
     transportation. My husband works the night shift in Meridian, 
     so he is forced to use the car. The cost of food is a 
     shocker, but again, fuel costs have contributed to that also. 
     There are more of the basic and less of the goodies at the 
     checkout. I do not think our family will be flying anytime 
     soon, and if we vacation somewhere besides home, it will 
     still be within a short day's drive. All in all, I worry more 
     about those families who were barely surviving before, what 
     will become of them now?

[[Page S595]]

       I think it is important to give tax breaks to companies, 
     small or large, who want to develop alternative energy 
     technologies. There are a great number of really smart people 
     out there, I saw a man who could burn salt water and create 
     enough energy to light a bulb. And how about the farmer who 
     did something to his engine (in his garage workshop) to get 
     80 MPG. It is especially important to keep this technology 
     and the subsequent jobs it brings here in the United States. 
     If congress won't address these issues in a timely way, 
     countless other countries will once again, get the jobs. And 
     continue to give taxpayers incentives through tax breaks for 
     purchasing fuel efficient cars, energy saving appliances, 
     solar heating, etc. My family would purchase these products, 
     but the cost is often prohibitive. There are hungry buyers 
     just waiting and the cost will come down as more products are 
     sold. It just needs a jumpstart with federal funding, then it 
     will take off on its own. Do not do anything to lessen the 
     impact of gas prices. Only with higher prices will habits 
     change and new technologies emerge. The lesson is hard, but 
     the end result will be worth it. Get rid of government 
     supported Ethanol--it takes as much energy to make the stuff 
     compared to what it saves.
       And, let us build those super fast trains to at least run 
     along the cities on the Eastern and Western coasts. Again, 
     more jobs building trains, maintaining equipment, 
     contributing to a better economy. We can either spend tax 
     money on more roads for more gas eating cars or supplementing 
     energy efficient systems, good for the environment, the 
     economy and the pocketbook.
       We took Amtrak from Portland to Seattle, it was $29, but 
     again it took 3 hours! What if it took 45 minutes? There were 
     many business people on board, I think more people would be 
     willing to use this type of transportation if it was timely. 
     Time is money these days. And please give more money to small 
     urban cities like Boise to develop light rail systems. The 
     intercounty van ridership from Caldwell and Nampa to Boise 
     has become so popular. ValleyBUS is adding more vans to the 
     routes. A light rail system would work in the Boise Valley. 
     And replace the aging buses. In the month I have ridden the 
     bus, I have experienced at least two breakdowns. The buses 
     are purchased used and these are so old, parts are very hard 
     to come by. And allow some drilling and mining, I heard it 
     will be 7-10 years before a domestic supply will be 
     available, so it will not be the cure some think it will be. 
     Do not allow exemptions which were originally for farm 
     vehicles to be expanded to include cars with a like build, 
     like Hummers. That is cheating. Make the car companies raise 
     the MPG even higher. I read that China has tougher rules 
     for gas mileage than we do. And, the American people are 
     going to have to make hard choices. Cheap fuel is never 
     going to happen again, at least not for years. We ignored 
     the warnings during the Carter years, when gas prices were 
     high; we need to change our enormous appetites for 
     oversized everything, from cars to houses to McDonalds. We 
     would all be better off to bike, walk and move to smaller 
     houses where families actually live in the ``living'' room 
     and see each other. I grew up with one car for our entire 
     family! Could that happen in American society today? I 
     doubt it. Maybe it is time we Americans face the 
     consequences of our greed. It could be a humbling lesson, 
     something we might just need.
       And, to pay for all this? Get out of Iraq and rebuild the 
     United States of America. You cannot make a democracy with 
     just an election. Our own great country functioned without a 
     strong federal government or President for some 10 years 
     after defeating the British. I think it was luck we became 
     the greatest democracy ever, but lots of hard work to stay 
     that way. Is Iraq able and willing to do the hard work? I do 
     not think it is possible. We destroyed the stability in the 
     Middle East and now it is a worse mess for our meddling. Do 
     not allow another son or daughter or sister or brother or 
     husband or wife to be killed, let them come home.
     Donna Lam, Boise.
                                  ____

       Hello Senator Mike Crapo, I am a 29 year old, single woman 
     that is trying to do things right. I have owned my home for 
     four years and have worked in dialysis for 5\1/2\ years. I 
     have not gone grocery shopping in two months. I am getting 
     where my payments are getting later and later. I do not know 
     how people are surviving. The cost of gas, groceries, and 
     everyday living keeps going up, but the income that we bring 
     home does not change. I go to work and come home, I do not do 
     anything above and beyond because I am afraid of losing 
     everything that I have worked so hard for. I am afraid that 
     if something is not done soon, that I am going to start 
     loosing everything I have worked for. I used to spend about 
     $30.00 for gas a week now it is almost $70.00. I live in 
     Emmett in the city limits and the water is horrible, so I 
     have to buy water just to drink (it turned my cat dish 
     black). I have complained to the city but it is going on 1 
     year of having to buy water. Everything cost, what are the 
     citizens expose to do?
       Thank you for your time,
     Alyssa Quenzer.
                                  ____

       This is in response to your request for citizens to ``share 
     your energy stories.''
       Here are some of the results I am observing, of gas being 
     more expensive: Traffic is (slightly) down on the overcrowded 
     roads in and around Boise. People are getting rid of their 
     gas-guzzlers and getting more economical modes of 
     transportation. People are making more responsible 
     transportation choices. (Dare I say it? Might they even 
     consider car-pooling, or utilizing public transportation?) 
     Air pollution is down. There is some real market-driven 
     innovation going on, in the automotive world.
       In other words, the results of higher fuel prices are not 
     all negative! Please think long and hard before getting the 
     government more involved! (In the past, it has not always had 
     the desired effect.)
       If you could figure out some way to give the freight 
     industry some relief, that would be a good thing. But let the 
     free market run its course with regards to personal 
     transportation, I say. If our economy is based on every 
     citizen 16 and over having a private motor vehicle and 
     unlimited access to cheap fuel . . . it is a house of cards.
       Like everybody else, we in my family are affected by rising 
     fuel prices, and are needing to be more responsible with our 
     transportation. Is that a bad thing?
       (Full disclosure: I've been a dedicated user of bicycle 
     transportation since 1986. Gas was 97 cents back then. It 
     makes even more sense in 2008 for my fellow citizens to 
     seriously consider their own transportation choices, than it 
     did back in 1986.)
       Thanks for your attention.
                                       Steve Hulme, 4th-generation
     Taxpaying Idaho Citizen, Boise.
                                  ____

       My biggest concern is the lack of balance with the cost of 
     living and the working wages. Cost of living is increasing 
     faster than employers/corporations are able (or willing) to 
     keep up with. I am very worried about the near future. With 
     two kids to raise, trying to keep them involved in sports and 
     other extra-curricular activities is becoming more of a 
     challenge. I do not want to be forced to make a decision of 
     gas in the car to get my kids to and from or my children's 
     well-being.
       What Americans want are politicians who do what they say 
     they will do. Not empty promises to get into office. At what 
     cost does it come? Our children, our future.
       Why do these power companies continue to get approvals for 
     price increases? Who is benefiting from this? If the 
     Government doesn't think we are in a recession now, just 
     wait, it is just around the corner. I know for my family as 
     well as many other families, spending is no longer frivolous, 
     let us-treat-ourselves-for-our-hard-work spending, it is 
     thought through heavily. We have no choice.
       With the wealth of our country, there should not be the 
     amount of homeless (or soon-to-be) people due to lack of 
     money/resources to keep a roof over their heads and food on 
     the table. I am ashamed at the direction our country has 
     taken. Now I see it only getting worse.
       I was visiting with a fellow co-worker today who helps feed 
     those not necessarily homeless but left with little to no 
     money left after paying bills at the end of the month for 
     food. She collects food like a shelter, from local 
     businesses, then disburses the food accordingly. In just two 
     weeks time, the number of people she serves/helps went from 
     92 to 120. Unfortunately she was unable to help them all, not 
     enough food due to a decrease in donations.
       Something has got to give and it should no longer be the 
     American people/families! Instead, we need to be at the 
     receiving end. Help our own in this country to survive.
     A very concerned Mom.
                                  ____

       Good day Mike, my story is: I am a 50 year old disabled 
     woman; my income is social security of 671.00 plus an arrears 
     child support order from 1992 in which I receive 201.00 a 
     month in 50.34 weekly payments. I am almost over the limit 
     for Idaho Medicaid and am what is called the QM plan. I have 
     no dental and no vision. Part D helps with prescriptions and 
     Medicare pays some. I am eligible for about 10.00 in food 
     stamps which I do not collect because at my last 
     recertification, I just could not justify the gas and time 
     for the 10.00 that really is not that helpful. It has been a 
     very cold winter; my energy cost in the trailer I own and 
     only pay lot rent for [cheap housing], have made my life very 
     hard; I have had to choose between power and food for months 
     since October to be exact, my electric and gas have been 
     between 250.00 & 300.00, finally my energy due on the 20th of 
     June is 107.00, last year it was 65.00 or so this time of 
     year. I have a 20 year old daughter that lives at home and 
     goes to LCSC full time thank you Lord for grants and loans. I 
     cannot remember the last time I went to the grocery store and 
     bought food, we live out of food banks and milk has become a 
     luxury, from Walmart. Our 2 dogs' food comes from the humane 
     society. My car is always on empty; 2.5 gallons of gas is 
     10.00. Please help us up the food stamp limit; disabled 
     people should not have to worry about food, how about a fixed 
     amount for disabled people comparable to their income, lower 
     energy prices, fixed prices for energy to heat disabled 
     people's homes. I do not mind paying my own power but up to 
     or over \1/2\ of my monthly income. Help. Thank You:
     Deb.
                                  ____

       As a solution to today's obscene fuel prices, a lot of 
     people talk about expanding domestic production. What nobody 
     realizes is that the same people who would be drilling for 
     and producing this oil are the same people who are currently 
     holding us up at the pump. Think about it: If Chevron/Texaco 
     can sell us gasoline at $4.00 a gallon, does it

[[Page S596]]

     make sense for them to invest millions (probably billions) of 
     dollars in the exploration and production of increased oil 
     supplies so in order to sell us gasoline at $2.50 a gallon? 
     Spend money to reduce profits? If Ford were selling all the 
     new F-150 pickups they could produce for $30,000 each, would 
     they spend billions to expand their assembly line so they 
     could sell 25 percent more trucks for $22,500 each? Of course 
     not, they would keep the price at $30,000 and enjoy the 
     increased profits. And the oil companies will do the same 
     thing. Increasing oil supplies will only give the big oil 
     companies more oil to sell at $120 a barrel and will not 
     drive the price at the pump down one bit.
       There's no competition in the oil industry, the regulating 
     bodies have allowed too many mergers resulting in a few 
     super-companies that are all in bed together. The only way 
     you could make an idea like dramatically expanding domestic 
     production work is if you started a completely new, 
     independent company to find and extract the new oil, then 
     build new refineries to turn it into a usable product, then 
     build an entirely new distribution infrastructure to get the 
     product to the consumers. That would cost trillions of 
     dollars and it will never happen.
       Gasoline costs $4.00 a gallon because we are still buying 
     it at $4.00 a gallon. That is the simple truth. Our country's 
     entire infrastructure depends on gas and diesel engines in 
     cars, trucks, planes, and ships to get products and people 
     from Point A to Point B. And I will be the first one to 
     admit, I am not prepared to quit driving my car, so I am as 
     much a part of the problem as anyone. But short of a federal 
     cap on consumer gasoline and diesel fuel prices, competition 
     and reduced demand are the only things that will drive down 
     the price of retail gasoline. Until that happens, we are just 
     hosed.
     Carl Bloomquist, Nampa.
                                  ____

       First I would like to thank you for taking the time to 
     listen to the people on this subject.
       Our brief story: 6 months ago we had two cars and a truck. 
     We could not afford to drive the truck any longer so we sold 
     it and paid off one of our cars. That helped for a while but 
     the gas prices kept creeping up. I work downtown and we are 
     fortunate enough to live close to a bus route. Now I pay 
     $36.00 for a monthly Valley Ride pass and I ride the bus 
     every day. That takes an additional hour of time a day but 
     now we save close to $100.00 a month in gas by doing that. 
     But the gas prices are still climbing and might reach $5.00 
     per gallon. Now we have two cars and one sits in the 
     driveway. So now we are thinking seriously about selling the 
     car that is paid off and paying down the loan on the other 
     car. I am also thinking seriously of buying a bicycle and 
     gearing up to commute on a bicycle to work. This will help me 
     get in shape as well as help keep the environment clean.
       So . . . In a matter of a few months we went from three 
     vehicles down to (most likely) one vehicle and riding 
     bicycles. We are sick and tired of the prices (fuel and food) 
     continuing to creep up and refuse to put up with it anymore.
       We want to make a trip to Bend Oregon to visit our 
     grandchildren but we cannot afford to do that this month. We 
     will have to save another $100 and do that at the end of next 
     month. We all work too hard to ``try'' and make ends meet to 
     have to make decisions between gasoline and grandchildren.
       So maybe someone will hear our story and something can be 
     done about this.
       Thank you again for listening.
     Michael Viscetto.
                                  ____

       I strongly disagree with your stand on the climate change 
     bill that recently was defeated in filibuster action 
     recently. I was very disappointed in your vote. These are 
     measures that need to be made for our environment, and for 
     our economy.
       Trying to open federal wildlife reserves to more drilling 
     is not the answer. There is not enough oil there to make a 
     difference in the world price of oil and gas. (And I say this 
     as someone who owns lots of stock in oil, gas, and oil 
     service industry companies.) We instead need to focus on 
     making alternative, non-CO2 emitting fuels. I do 
     agree with your support for nuclear energy, solar and wind 
     power. With the coming development of electric powered 
     vehicles, these will greatly decrease the use of gasoline, 
     which is the best way to bring about a price drop--which will 
     make a climate change bill that much more important.
     Mitch Long, Boise.
                                  ____

       Not sure where to begin. It is very hard for us to live 
     right now with both the cost of fuel rising, and the cost of 
     food rising. My husband served this country for 22 years in 
     the Military until he became injured, and was unable to do 
     his duties anymore as a military man. He went back to school, 
     thanks to the VA, and is now a board certified respiratory 
     therapist. He is still looking for a job at this point and 
     time. I have faith he will find one soon because we live 
     payday to payday, and there are times when we do not have 
     enough to pay the bills we have because I went to the store, 
     or put gas in my car. So I also have to make a choice as to 
     put gas in the car, or go to the grocery store. But you have 
     to have gas in the car to get to the store. Living off of 
     potatoes, and macaroni cheese is getting old. And every where 
     you look there are commercials telling you to eat right. How 
     can a person eat right when you can't afford the food in the 
     first place? Plus with all of my doctor bills and the amount 
     of medication I am on does not help either. I struggle 
     everyday wondering what am I going to feed my family today, 
     and I wonder what is really going to happen to us.
     Tammy.
                                  ____

       Rather than a story I would like to offer a suggestion. My 
     suggestion is that Congress should put in place requirements 
     for oil companies to begin placing hydrogen fueling options 
     at their stations nationwide. Consumers should be offered 
     incentives for purchasing H cell cars. Oil needs to be used 
     as a lubricant not a pollutant.
       Thank you for your efforts.
     Cathy Jones.

                          ____________________