[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 27, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S890-S892]
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:

       You are asking Idahoans to write about gas prices? You mean 
     you do not know? I think Washington D.C. may as well be 
     registered as another planet because I think your colleagues 
     are so far from reality of the rest of the people it is 
     absolutely outrageous.
       Your colleague Barbara Boxer of California said that she 
     wants Americans to use alternative routes of transportation 
     and that it is a good thing that gas prices force people to 
     take the bus, ride bikes, or walk to their destination 
     because it helps reduce global warming.
       I have something to say to you and to Boxer and you can 
     tell her for me.
       I am a driver for a living. I deliver products right here 
     in Boise. I have to drive I have no choice. I am also a 
     salesman, and a night supervisor. To Senator Boxer, I live in 
     Idaho. I do not have the option of riding the bus. I cannot 
     walk my deliveries or ride my bike with my products? Is she 
     insane?
       I find it absolutely insulting for her to talk down to me 
     like that. She and her liberal Senators love these high gas 
     prices because they want to use it as an excuse to make us 
     live how they want us to live to fight so-called global 
     warming, while she and Al Gore fly in jets. That's Eco-
     Socialism in my opinion.
       Senator Crapo, I have three jobs. Three jobs. And I am 
     still having problems fueling up. I have had to open credit 
     card accounts for the first time in my life. And my debt is 
     still going up.
       You'd think with three jobs and three paychecks for one 
     person. I am not married no kids. I would be starving with 
     fuel prices if I had a family. I am just barely paying my 
     bills on time as they are, to about $1500 a month not 
     including gas prices.
       Starting in 2005 till 2007, I did very well financially, I 
     was saving up and putting money away in my savings account. I 
     loved myself for putting money away. This month in June I had 
     to take one-quarter of my life savings out of my bank to pay 
     for bills including gas because the price skyrocketed from $3 
     to $4 a gallon in one month.
       This is outrageous. I am so angry at Congress right now. . 
     . You have no idea.
       I think it is 80 percent the Government's fault for this 
     and 20 percent the oil companies. The only thing the oil 
     companies are doing wrong is speculating the price of oil for 
     really dumb reasons. Like if you so much as sneeze the price 
     would go up in panic.
       Congress has done this because you refuse to drill for oil 
     in ANWR to save a deer called caribou! Congress is more 
     worried about a stupid deer than they are about my life? More 
     worried about the mating season of the caribou than they are 
     about the economy? My jobs? My gas prices? My bills? My 
     lifestyle? I am sorry I thought you were the people's 
     Congress? Not the caribou's congress! Do we have an animal 
     congress I should know about?
       You won't allow drilling off shore? Well did you know that 
     China is drilling for oil off the coast of Florida? But we 
     cannot? Why? This is outrageous.
       Do not listen to those radical environmentalists. They were 
     wrong about the second ice age in the 70s. When I was kid in 
     school in the 1980's, my teachers told me by the year 1999 
     New York would be underwater and Los Angeles would be a bunch 
     of Islands. It has not happened. Of course the earth's 
     temperature changes and jumps over time. The earth's climate 
     changes all the time, has been since the earth cooled and 
     formed. The earth's temperature does not stay the same all 
     the time. There are so many scientists and people who 
     disagree with Al Gore, but if we disagree we are labeled 
     ``flat-earthers'' and ``Holocaust Deniers.'' How dare Al Gore 
     tell me that I have no first amendment right to disagree with 
     him on climate change.
       My question for the Republican Party is this. Why did you 
     not approve drilling for oil

[[Page S891]]

     when you had Congress lock, stock, and barrel? In 2002, I 
     cheered when the GOP took back the Senate and we had both 
     Houses plus the White House. I yelled, ``Yes! At last we can 
     get some real work done!'' But what have you done with those 
     four years of three Branches with GOP? Nothing! You took your 
     voters for granted and then you were surprised when you lost 
     in 2006.
       I have spoken to many Republicans, Moderates, Independents, 
     Moderate Democrats, and Conservatives who are seriously 
     thinking of either staying home or voting Democrat based on 
     the GOP's laziness. Although I do not trust Democrats with 
     the economy, why should we the voters reward Republicans? 
     Give us a reason? Answer . . . gas prices! Point out that it 
     is the Dems who want the price high! Even Barack Obama 
     admitted that he wanted it to go high just not so fast.
       Senator Crapo. You want to help me? A person with three 
     jobs and struggling with gas prices? I have not had a 
     vacation since March of 2007! I can't even take a one day 
     vacation to Jackpot anymore! Senator Crapo I work all seven 
     days a week! I get no weekends! And I still struggle to pay 
     gas prices! About $15 a day! Not a week! A day!
       Drill here! Drill now! Drill in ANWR! Drill in America!
       Tell your friends drill.
     Aaron Banks, Boise.
                                  ____

       Hi. Thank you Senator for your sincere concern for Idaho 
     Residents.
       I am 58 next month, and on disability from a very severe 
     fire I was trapped in several years ago.
       Though I do get an income, this is where it goes:
       Receive $625.00 a month
       1. $200.00 a month mobile home space rent
       2. $156.00 a month mortgage payments for my mobile home . . 
     . which without the owner of the mobile home, I would not be 
     on my way to being a first time home owner!
       3. $48.00 a month mobile home insurance
       4. $40.00 a month vehicle insurance . . . it is a 1988 
     Plymouth Voyager van that I have had since 1988.
       5. $39.00 phone bill . . . which was supposed to reduced 
     several months ago through my social worker, an still remains 
     at the normal price and I do not have long distance.
       6. $30-40 electricity monthly . . . do not have an air 
     conditioner for summer but do open my windows and use my 
     ceiling fans that helps.
       7. $125-and up in winter for gas to run my heater monthly . 
     . . that is after I receive fuel assistance which for some 
     reason only lasts 1-2 months and only use the heater to warm 
     up the area so can start my wood stove which is usually one-
     half hour.
       So if I am lucky, all I can afford to do is put up to 
     $20.00 a month in gas which gives me almost 1/4 tank and that 
     has to last the month.
       I have medical problems that mean many trips to the doctor 
     and pharmacy, and with such a low amount of gas I have to 
     depend on others for rides when I run out of gas.
       Thank you for your sincere concern and we are all hoping 
     and praying that gas will once again come down to where 
     people like me can afford to purchase more.
     Loretta Lowerre, Nampa.
                                  ____

       First of all, I am disappointed that you provide prefixes 
     for all kinds of people except the only class of people (with 
     one exception--MSgt) that have official (not courteous) 
     titles in these United States--the military. My title is 
     Colonel.
       Second, from your letter on gas prices that you sent me, 
     you are starting to understand that the Congress holds most 
     of the blame for high oil (and thus gas) prices. Congress has 
     failed to act in the thirty years since the last gas crisis, 
     continually failing to take responsible action to make sure 
     domestic supplies are developed and used to reduce dependence 
     on foreign oil.
       It should be clear that the single most deleterious action 
     of Congress over the last forty years was the Environmental 
     Protection Act. It has desperately needed revision since the 
     early seventies and because it was not, the economic impact 
     on America has been extreme. The inability to build domestic 
     gas refineries, increase domestic oil production and take 
     advantage of resources in ANWR are only a few of the 
     unintended and disastrous impacts of that act. An 
     environmentalist has only to write a single letter to cause 
     the price of any such proposal to escalade exponentially. The 
     latest case of the proposed nuclear reactor in Idaho is an 
     example. One man writing one letter can cause the waste of 
     hundreds of thousands of dollars to ``prove'' the lack of 
     environmental impacts of such a proposal.
       The price of a house in Idaho has risen by 10-15 percent, 
     for instance, because of the ludicrous and technically flawed 
     environmental studies and reactions on the spotted owl.
       Still no action in Congress to alleviate the situation. We 
     simply need someone to stand up and take the actions 
     necessary to replace political correctness with what used to 
     be common sense.
       So the bottom line, Senator, is that Congress bears the 
     responsibility to stop passing stupid laws and start reigning 
     in those that are hurting the nation's ability to do the 
     right things rather than the politically correct things. Do 
     you have the courage to start?
     Robert Keenan, Meridian.
                                  ____

       You asked what the high gas prices are doing to me. It has 
     become very difficult to even do normal things. I cannot 
     afford to go up town and buy necessary things. Since I am on 
     Social Security Disability my sister and I have been living 
     off my money. Since my sister does not have a car and I 
     cannot afford to buy one for her, nor could I afford the gas. 
     She would love to go to work. How would she get there? Idaho, 
     and particularly this area has a really horrible public 
     transportation system. It truly is a disgrace to our state. 
     My sister walks as much as possible. Our nation needs to stop 
     depending on foreign oil. I love all the animals and have 
     tried to protect them as much as possible, but we need to 
     start taking care of our families first.
       The oil companies are making over the profit margin; that 
     is disgusting by itself. I do not trust one thing they say or 
     do. Therefore, we need to have alternative fuel. The wind can 
     run electricity. The air can fuel a car, water can do both, 
     after seeing the pictures of a car that runs on air. America, 
     the greatest country in the world needs to step up to the 
     plate. Oil companies need to step up to the plate before they 
     become the dinosaurs. Therefore, we need to drill. Do it. 
     Many families like mine are being devastated by the high 
     gasoline prices which makes high food prices we cannot 
     afford. Thank you for your time.
     Marian Ruhling, Nampa.
                                  ____

       Hello--This is in response to a solicitation from Senator 
     Crapo regarding personal stories on how high energy prices 
     are affecting lives.
       Greed is the source of most of the world's evil. I know I 
     sound like an ideologue, but please read on.
       It is hard to disaggregate the effects of the high cost of 
     energy from other economic hits our family is experiencing. 
     When construction activity slowed in Valley and Adams County, 
     wage earning families left our valleys looking for jobs 
     elsewhere. So long, Tamarack?
       The resulting reduced school enrollment (now compounded by 
     the end of Craig-Wyden) in our districts led me to being one 
     of the teachers RIF'd from the Council School District. 
     Fortunately, I found work part-time in the McCall School 
     District. Unfortunately, this 70 mile, round-trip commute (in 
     my 2000 140,000+ mile Dodge AWD Caravan--needed for 
     unpredictable roads) costs me $9.00-$12.00 a trip! I would 
     like to buy a more fuel efficient Subaru--but I cannot afford 
     to.)
       My school-age children suffer because programs are being 
     severely reduced--Shop and Art are gone. Some high school 
     courses will only be offered every other year. Summer school 
     for poor learners is truncated. Field trips? Sports? Are you 
     kidding? Both are severely reduced. How can our small-town 
     children go out and experience the world when there isn't 
     even money for gas?
       As consumers, our family lives so far from ``the source'' 
     that not only gas, but also milk and other basic commodities 
     seem to cost at least 25 percent more than they did a year 
     ago. Last year I was able to find milk for $2.29 gallon; now 
     milk costs close to $4.00/gallon. Healthy bread costs close 
     to $4.00/loaf. As a family, we certainly have not received a 
     COLA to offset these price increases.
       As middle-class professionals (my husband is a forester) 
     and as parents, the drain on our budget means belt-tightening 
     for any of ``fun things'' like vacation trips. Additionally, 
     we have experienced a health crisis (and have met our 
     catastrophic limits). I now must commute to Fruitland (140 
     miles round trip) every 2 weeks for chemo; in the fall I will 
     need to commute 5 days a week for radiation for 6 weeks! (My 
     doctor cavalierly denied me two prescriptions for drugs since 
     they are also available OTC. ``They only cost a few dollars. 
     `` He casually shrugged off my request for RXs. Well, the two 
     drugs cost more than $30 altogether. I do not think that the 
     upper-middle-class and upper-class have a clue that there is 
     an exponential difference between a few bucks (a latte) and 
     $30--a chance to visit a museum or movie, or halfway fill up 
     a gas tank to make it to a chemo session!)
       I believe that our tax system rewards the rich on the backs 
     of the poor and middle class. I believe that oil companies 
     and owners of stocks are making fortunes as the little guy 
     suffers.
       I believe we should take global warning seriously and allow 
     tax credits for the development of alternative energy. We 
     need to take recycling very seriously. We also need to be a 
     world economic partner on a fair playing field (Kyoto 
     convention), quit out-sourcing to countries that do not 
     provide the labor protections we do to our workers, and build 
     respectful relationships among all peoples and all cultures--
     as a first step to world peace and understanding and a step 
     away from the ugliness of war.
       I also believe that limiting population growth and sharing 
     the world's resource's equably is the only way we will ever 
     establish peace on earth.
       Locally, for our family, what have been the effects of high 
     energy costs? Higher food and medical costs, loss of job, 
     reduced school programs for my children, dwindled savings, 
     ``making do'' with older cars and housing needs, fewer 
     amenities, no vacation.
       Glad you asked.
     Lynn, Fruitvale.
                                  ____

       I read your letter sent out today.
       Glad to hear that at least one of our Senators in 
     Washington gets it. I hope there are

[[Page S892]]

     more of you in DC that can support the policies you want to 
     support in your letter.
       We do need to start drilling again in the US and Off-Shore. 
     We need to make sure that we take precautions to avoid damage 
     to the environment. We cannot sacrifice one for the other. 
     But we must start drilling again, and do so in a respective 
     manner of Mother Nature.
       And we are going to need some new refining capability. 
     Again, do it new technology and with respect to our 
     environment. Build it in Eastern Idaho--we have the space and 
     we could use the jobs and economic boost. Tough to get oil 
     here, but if they need a place for it, bring it here.
       We must start the nuclear programs again. We need to build 
     some new reactors soon. I do not know for sure, but I am 
     betting some of our older reactors are getting long in the 
     tooth, and if they go off the grid, then what happens? 
     Besides we need more power and money spent to renew our grid 
     system.
       We need to take a serious look at Ethanol. I am not sure it 
     is all it is being promoted to be. I am not sure the benefits 
     outweigh all of the costs. With the flooding in the Midwest, 
     I wonder what the cost of corn will be now? But it is not 
     just food issues, but the processing issues as well.
       Wind Power should be promoted as well. But a Nuclear Power 
     Plant is much easier on the eyes than 1000 wind towers, and 
     not as susceptible to the changes in the wind.
       Coal alternatives should be looked at as well. We need to 
     check if the benefits we can gain from technology like coal 
     gasification are valid and have low impact. Some of the 
     claims you hear and read about look promising. But as I am 
     learning with Ethanol, there may be some significant costs to 
     chase this type of technology.
       But the short of it--we need to develop our energy and 
     become more independent. The amount of jobs created would be 
     incredible in the process. You want a better health care 
     system and less unemployment and less government care 
     programs--just set the energy companies loose (for a change) 
     and see this economy rebound in a heartbeat. These energy 
     companies can afford health care plans and benefits for their 
     workers. Our current policies are killing us--and I really 
     hope there are enough Senators and Representatives in DC to 
     turn this around. We have been shooting ourselves in the foot 
     for more than 20 years. Guess it took that long for the 
     ``brain'' to finally realize the pain in doing so.
       Good Luck.
     Stephen Kaiser, Rigby.

                          ____________________