[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 20 (Monday, February 2, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1274-S1276]
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:

       As a small business owner, the price of gas is close to 
     putting me out of work. The economy is a little slow right 
     now but only because of the price of fuel. If fuel prices 
     were to drop a buck a gallon, the country would see a huge 
     increase in spending. At this moment, I am unsure if I will 
     be able to even pay my bills this month to keep my business 
     open or a roof over my head. The burden of fuel prices and 
     the lack of work for me have begun to put a huge stress on my 
     relationship at home. She will now have to cover my share of 
     the bills and will leave us both to figure out how to feed 
     the kids, pay bills and buy fuel.
       I am 41 years old and have been in the same profession for 
     over 17 years. The thought of having to start over and train 
     for a new job is very tough. I have looked for part-time work 
     in hopes something will be done about fuel prices allowing me 
     to save my business. There is very little work out there, and 
     the work that is there pays so little it would cost more in 
     fuel to get to work then you would make at work. This country 
     is in need of something to be done about fuel prices, if they 
     continue to rise we are going to see a lot of people 
     homeless, stealing, or worse to just get by. It is time for 
     this government to take charge and save its people before it 
     is too late.
     Ken, Kuna.
                                  ____

       I work at the border of Idaho and Canada. Eastport, Idaho 
     to be exact. This is 33 miles from Bonners Ferry. Many of us 
     work here, at Customs and at the brokerages as well as a hand 
     full of other businesses. Some of us carpool when we can.
       I want to ask you to help us get public transportation in 
     this northernmost area of Idaho. We need it. It will help all 
     of us through this crippling gas price debacle as well as 
     create a needed resource for everyone in Boundary and Bonner 
     County. If I take time to write out a plan, will you 
     seriously look at it and help us with grants and resources if 
     feasible? The plan would be an idea of course, as I am not a 
     grant writer, but I am banking on you to have that kind of 
     resource.
       I think it is feasible and needs to be. We should all have 
     a focus on the future instead of cowering in fear because we 
     do not know how to move ahead, simply because we cannot 
     afford to live as we did, driving the biggest most powerful 
     cars and trucks, without regard to the future, instead of 
     conserving and investing in alternatives. It is not too late.
       First things first. We all need to get to work and I think 
     public transportation would be something people would pay 
     taxes for in these parts.
       I am including an email sent to me about alternative 
     ``air'' cars. It seems other countries have found solutions 
     in alternative means for transportation public and private. 
     Why is it that our country does not ``approve'' these 
     vehicles that run on ``air''? It does not make any sense, 
     other than the government is protecting the profits of 
     corporations.


                            AMAZING AIR CAR

       The Compressed Air Car developed by Motor Development 
     International (MDI) Founder Guy Negre might be the best thing 
     to have happened to the motor engine in years.
       The $12,700 CityCAT, one of the planned Air Car models, can 
     hit 68 mph and has a range of 125 miles. It will take only a 
     few minutes for the CityCAT to refuel at gas stations 
     equipped with custom air compressor

[[Page S1275]]

     units. MDI says it should cost only around $2 to fill the car 
     up with 340 liters of air.
       The Air Car will be starting production relatively soon, 
     thanks to India's TATA Motors. Forget corn! There is fuel, 
     there is renewable fuel, and then there is user-renewable 
     fuel! What can be better than air?
       I am not sure, I would like to think our government had 
     what is good for all, not just the rich.
       I would buy one of these ``air'' cars in a minute. I 
     commute 33 miles each way to the Idaho/Canadian border 
     everyday. It is a struggle as I am a single mom and every 
     penny is spent to keep body and soul together in my family. 
     Nothing is left as it is; it just galls me to see my local 
     gas stations (seems like) daily gas price hike. One gas 
     station even got an digital sign, I assume because he had to 
     go out there so often to change the numbers; now he just 
     presses buttons from his office to make the price go up.
       I am afraid of what is to come, if our government does not 
     really focus on alternatives. Why go after oil reserves in 
     our country when that is not a long-term solution? Why not 
     really hit hard and support alternatives that are 
     sustainable? I get no security out of new oil finds. It is a 
     short-term solution. I would think we should think about 
     future generations, our own children, and their children. 
     What will they do? We need to solve it now, not put off the 
     inevitable.
     Leah.
                                  ____

       How this Idaho family deals with high energy prices:
       We drive less and slower. We have changed out incandescent 
     bulbs for compact florescent bulbs, and turn them off when 
     not in the room. We focused on increasing the energy 
     efficiency of our house this winter.
       Nothing this Congress, or any Congress since the 70s has 
     done or appears to be planning helps us with the costs of 
     energy. Quit promoting legislation helping big oil. Poking a 
     few more holes in obscure, sensitive or scenic areas will not 
     provide immediate or long term relief. Pandering to the 
     automobile lobby will not improve automobile fuel efficiency 
     needed by the average person. Get in front of the quickly 
     forming parade of common people advocating real solutions.
       As usual, if I get any reply to this, it will be a form 
     letter that completely ignores the fact that there are 
     opinions in Idaho that do not match yours.
     Michael.
                                  ____

       First, I would like to express my thanks for your seeking 
     comments on the energy mess. These are my thoughts:
       There should be a windfall tax on oil that is produced from 
     older domestic wells. These wells have been producing--say 
     over 10 years and the cost of production has been recouped. I 
     own stock in several oil companies; yet, I feel it is 
     important that the profits from these wells are put to better 
     use than dividends to me. The windfall profit should go to 
     help fund alternative fuels, hydrogen infrastructure, and 
     public transportation. You are correct when you say that 
     people in the west will suffer more from the high cost of 
     gasoline because of distance and the need to drive more.
       I am new to the nuclear industry and my personal experience 
     has opened my eyes to this untapped resource. I believe 
     congress should support nuclear and help educate the public 
     to how much energy is produced by nuclear, the safety record 
     of the industry, and the progress in managing the waste. 
     Power plants that use natural gas and other hydrocarbon based 
     fuels should be the first to be replaced with nuclear. 
     Politically, it would be wise to incorporate wind and solar 
     with the nuclear effort to help offset some to the negative 
     press. The negative press needs to be offset with an 
     educational program to help change the paradigms of the 
     public when it comes to nuclear power.
       Reinstate the rebates on hybrid vehicles.
       Allow tax incentives for renewable forms of energy.
       As for me, my expenditures for fuel have gone from $200 a 
     month to $400 a month. Combine this with increased food 
     costs, increases in my housing expenses, and other oil-
     related costs and my personal life style has changed 
     dramatically. Fortunately, I live in a community that is very 
     close to the recreational activities that I enjoy.
     Steven.
                                  ____

       It became apparent to me on vacation this year that many of 
     the world's hard-to-reach locations (i.e. most islands such 
     as Hawaii) are diesel-powered. The thought of powering an 
     entire island or island chain on diesel power alone is 
     sickening, and this is just one of the many hydrocarbon 
     dependent locations. My recommendation is to get nuclear 
     power off the cutting room floor and get the U.S. government 
     to build an infrastructure of power-supplying plants across 
     the nation. With a large nuclear energy source we would be 
     able to implement electromagnetic ``bullet trains'' between 
     major U.S. cities cutting down on highway and sky-way travel 
     making business commutes shorter and less carbon dependent.
       This endeavor would be 1,000 times larger and more 
     expensive than the U.S. interstate program but it is 
     important to streamline this country rather than go down the 
     path that we have been going for years.
       I have many more ideas but would like to keep things short. 
     Thanks for your time and for asking for citizen input.
     Reese.
                                  ____

       Please get us off of oil dependency. That is what 
     alternative energy is all about. How stupid can we be to only 
     have 1-2% alternative energy?
     Gary.
                                  ____

       Everyone is affected by the high prices of fuel; even 
     people that do not drive cars are affected by this. Costs for 
     shipping, because of fuel prices, have risen dramatically and 
     that cost is passed to the consumer.
       The short-term solution to our oil dependence is to drill 
     here, offshore and ANWR, until a long-term alternative is 
     provided.
     Angie.
                                  ____

       Thank you very much for taking the time to seek input from 
     Idaho citizens on the current energy crisis.
       I live with my wife and three children in Meridian but work 
     at the Air Force Base in Mountain Home. Even though I drive a 
     fuel-efficient car, my weekly commute cost has risen by over 
     $100 a month. With the associated rise in grocery costs, it 
     has become necessary for me to take a second job just to 
     afford transportation to work and put food on my family's 
     table. I know that this has become a serious quality of life 
     issue, not just for my family but for many Idahoans.
       I realize that even if drilling were begun immediately it 
     would not have that great of an effect on current prices and 
     that it could take several years for an impact to be felt in 
     homes across America, but it makes much more sense than 
     waiting even longer. Oil is not an infinite resource but by 
     expanding drilling we can help to give ourselves a buffer to 
     make the transition to other energy sources easier and more 
     economical.
       Again, thank you for your efforts on our behalf.
     James, Meridian.
                                  ____

       I do not even know how to begin with what this has done to 
     our family. I will start by letting you know that we are a 
     single income family. My husband works a commission-based job 
     at RC Willey, and I stay home and raise our two children, 
     ages 7 and 4. Since the prices of gas and groceries have gone 
     up, people have reduced their spending considerably. The last 
     thing anyone is going to do is go into RC Willey and spend 
     money on home furnishings or electronics. Since my husband 
     installs home theater systems, and services furniture 
     repairs, this directly affects him, and with him being 
     commission, our paychecks has shrunk considerably. We went 
     from being able to pay all of our bills, and have a couple of 
     extra hundred dollars left over to now wondering how we are 
     going to pay the house payment on the first, much less any of 
     the other bills. We have to decide what is more important to 
     pay. The stimulus package was spent on paying our bills, to 
     keep us afloat. It did not go back into the economy.
       One possibility we are looking at is for me to go back to 
     work. Two problems with that, we are not okay with someone 
     else raising our kids and we should not have to be forced 
     into that, and second we would probably spend more on gas 
     than I would make in an income so now it is not worth it. Now 
     we look at the possibility of my husband taking a second job, 
     which now means even less time with his family. Forget about 
     the financial suffering this is bringing on most people, but 
     let us take a look at what it is doing to the family unit. It 
     is hurting most families emotionally, and time wise, which 
     means the kids suffer. Why should my children or anyone 
     else's suffer because the oil companies want to get richer.
       Oil company's report record profits, and are giving their 
     retiring CEOs outrageous severance packages (Lee Raymond 
     chairman of Exxon given $400 million), while the rest of us 
     suffer horrible at their hands. Please explain to me why 
     someone needs that kind of money to retire on and my kids 
     face the possibility of losing their home? And to add insult 
     to injury, they have the nerve to make the statement that 
     they are only making pennies on every dollar. It is not just 
     the gas either, because it is affecting everyone (other than 
     the super rich) now other companies are forced to raise their 
     prices just to maintain a minimal profit, which further hurts 
     the general public, and now everything has become 
     unaffordable, not just gas.
       We try to do our best at buying cheap, and we buy the off-
     brands, and we shop sales ads, and we limit how much we 
     drive. But again you run into problems there. When you buy 
     cheap you get exactly that--cheap. Stuff breaks, groceries 
     are going bad quicker (we bought a head of lettuce on Friday, 
     and by Monday it was rotted, along with the onions we bought, 
     and the bagels. The cheap brand of ziplock baggies we bought 
     did not even close, so we have had to use a whole box of 
     baggies that did not zip close.), and over all the quality is 
     just poor. Prices keep going up, but the quality keeps going 
     down, which in the end costs you even more money. I stay home 
     90 percent of the time, and when I do go out I drive my car 
     which is a Chevy Malibu Maxx, and it still costs me $50 to 
     $60 to fill up. My husband drives his motorcycle every single 
     day to work to save on gas, and we are still sinking 
     financially, and we do not have a lot of bills. Where is the 
     fairness in the super rich getting even richer at the 
     detriment of the middle class, to poor class families? That 
     is not the America I was raised and taught about.
       If the powers to be that are supposed to be running this 
     country would do their job, we would not be in this position. 
     Stop ignoring the United States Constitution. It was put in

[[Page S1276]]

     place for a reason, and I am sick and tired of it being 
     violated. The Constitution is the foundation of this country, 
     and anyone with common sense will tell you, that when you 
     chip away at the very foundation of something, then the 
     entire structure will crumble. That is what is happing to the 
     USA. Stop letting the environmentalist run and control 
     everything. If it were not for them, and the idiots running 
     this country we would have already drilled in ANWR Alaska. Or 
     better yet our own, gulf instead of China/Cuba/India. By the 
     way, these are two suggestions for you to use.
       Let us make this country back into what it was meant to be, 
     a great place to live, and raise your children in. Stop 
     selling out the United States of America.
     Nick and Kasey, Boise.
                                  ____

       I hope you do not mind, but I am an avid Glenn Beck 
     listener, and I heard on his show yesterday that one of 
     Senator Orrin Hatch's secretaries or spokespeople told one of 
     his constituents that he would not support offshore drilling. 
     The constituent was calling because he wanted to tell Senator 
     Hatch that he supported it.
       I am glad to see you asking directly for people's opinion 
     and actually using some of the stories on your site.
       Let me just say that right now my wife, our baby, and I do 
     not have a car. Well, not one in working condition. See, I 
     have a '94 Geo Metro, but it threw a rod earlier in the year 
     and we just do not have the money to get a new car. I did 
     find an engine for my Geo, though, so everything should work 
     out once we get our economic stimulus check, except for the 
     whole skyrocketing gas prices thing.
       Right now we have to borrow my parents' truck if we need a 
     car, which is very frequently. We are trying to get my wife 
     into school to become a paramedic, but without 
     transportation, we cannot do anything. Back when gas prices 
     were cheaper, I had less of a problem borrowing people's 
     vehicles, but these days I cannot stand to borrow somebody's 
     car because a lot of the time I do not have the cash to put 
     gas back into it.
       Luckily I live really close to where I work, so I walk 
     every day. My wife mostly just stays home with our baby, and 
     both sets of our parents live close by. The only thing is, 
     just the short distances that our parents have to drive to 
     pick us up or take us to the store or whatever they do is too 
     much. Even having smaller vehicles, like my Geo, does not 
     seem to help that much. Before the thing broke down I was 
     putting $40-50 in to fill the thing, and it only has an 8-
     gallon tank.
       Let me be frank. I like that you have asked people's 
     opinions on this subject. High gas prices affect everything, 
     as you can probably see. Food prices are going up because of 
     the money it takes to transport. Anything that is made with 
     petroleum (which is something that people rarely think about) 
     like paint products and plastics are going up. Everything is 
     going up because everybody uses gas to get from point A to B, 
     so businesses let customers make up the difference by raising 
     prices.
       It is a pretty simple economic concept, but something that 
     should be even simpler is supply and demand. I do not know 
     why anybody at this point is against offshore drilling. And, 
     I do not know why anybody is against nuclear energy. Sure, 
     plenty of environmentalists are all bonkers about nuclear 
     meltdowns and all that, but how many times in history has 
     that ever happened? Nuclear waste from reactors is even 
     becoming less of a factor.
       The long and short of it is really that I support Senators 
     that listen to the people. I think that you should try to get 
     on the news yourself and let people know that you want their 
     opinion.
     Phil, Boise.

                          ____________________