[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 24, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2417-S2418]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    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:

       Thank you for this opportunity to talk about this issue.
       I am not complaining. I have a wonderful life here in Idaho 
     that I could never afford in California. These are the facts 
     of my life.
       I am a 46-year-old, divorced female with no children. I am 
     a high school graduate. I am not a minority. I am an American 
     citizen.
       Like a lot of Idahoans, I work full time for a low wage. I 
     make $13.00 an hour without employee benefits. I buy my own 
     health insurance and contribute an inadequate amount to my 
     own IRA. I do own a modest town home in downtown Boise. I 
     have almost paid off my dream vehicle, a medium-sized pickup 
     truck. My monthly expenses are about $1,200 a month. This 
     does not include groceries, gas, clothes or entertainment. I 
     commute seven miles (round trip) to my job at Hewlett-Packard 
     five days a week. I eat my lunch at my desk. I love my job, I 
     love my home, I love my truck, I love Idaho!
       Last year it was really tight. I kept my home heat at 60-65 
     degrees during the winter. This year it is impossible for me 
     to make ends meet. The cost of gas and food has increased way 
     more than my salary. I am using my credit card, that I had 
     just paid off, to put gas into my truck. Dumb, but I got to 
     have gas to make my life work. We all do!
       I have a small ``carbon footprint.'' And [now I am told to 
     conserve!]
       I looked at taking the bus, Valley Ride. It would take me 
     one-and-a-half hours to take the bus to work and one-and-a-
     half hours to go home at the end of the day. My time is too 
     valuable. I would rather go to the gym, ride my bike on the 
     greenbelt, play with my dog, mow my lawn, have a beer with my 
     buds.
       I am furious! There is no reason on God's green earth why 
     this should be happening to Americans. We are the greatest 
     nation on earth with vast resources that our Government has 
     taken from us with their [moratoriums!]
       Manmade global warming is nothing more that a leftist power 
     grab and I am sick of elitists telling the rest of us how to 
     live our lives! I want to take care of myself, not the 
     government! What we have going on [right now] is national 
     economic suicide! I appreciate all you try to do for Idaho 
     and the citizens of the United States. You have been a 
     wonderful Senator. I am very excited about having nuclear 
     power plants in Idaho. And I look forward to our State 
     creating more businesses, jobs and revenue by using our 
     state's renewable resources. Any chance Idaho has some 
     coal or oil we could exploit? Free market is the way to go 
     for all of America's needs!
     Suzanne, Boise.
                                  ____

       I am sure you have received thousands of responses by now, 
     and I am sure I am not the first to come to you with these 
     concerns and ideas. I just hope that adding our ``story'' to 
     the mix, might add some additional light to the situation.
       Who we are: We are a family of six. Our children are 5 
     years and almost 3-year-old triplets. We own/operate a dairy 
     in Kuna.
       Each trip into Boise costs us about $10 (round trip) in 
     gas. I used to do all my shopping at Walmart/Costco/Winco 
     since the price of groceries are cheaper there than at our 
     Kuna Paul's store. However, adding in the cost of gas now 
     makes tasks as simple as grocery shopping that much more 
     expensive. We are trying to last up to 2 weeks in between 
     shopping trips, just because of the cost of gas. We are 
     eating more frozen foods and less fresh foods.
       Trips to the zoo or park have been completely eliminated.
       My husband and I have been volunteering at St. Luke's NICU 
     for the last eight months, but have been finding it hard to 
     justify spending the $10 in gas each time we go, when we are 
     struggling just to pay for the groceries each month.
       At our dairy, the cost to feed our own livestock is 
     astronomically high!! The past several months have all been 
     negative income months due entirely to the cost of grains. As 
     a dairy owner, the milk price is going to have to go higher 
     if dairies are going to survive.
       My suggestions: Abolish the ethanol subsidies. It is 
     pushing our food prices higher and higher. The cost of grain 
     to make foods or to feed the livestock (that then becomes our 
     food) is pushing a lot of the grocery bills higher and 
     higher. If we have to, we can start riding bikes, but I do 
     not have much choice when it comes to feeding my family.
       We need to become more self-sufficient for our own energy 
     needs. We need to start drilling. We need to start pushing 
     for more electric and hybrid cars. Could we even start a 
     program that would help convert gas engines into hybrids??? I 
     would gladly spend a couple thousand (probably would go on a 
     credit card honestly) right now to convert our family vehicle 
     into a hybrid!
       Hopefully you have time to read this e-mail and if you did, 
     thank you so much!
     Leslie.
                                  ____

       I am cutting back on fuel and fertilizer as much as I can. 
     But, as a person pushing seventy, being frugal and ``making 
     do'' is no problem and the challenge can be rather 
     enjoyable--a virtue, not a vice. This seems to not be the 
     case with the ``boomers'' and their progeny. They do not want 
     to do without and they look for simplistic answers from 
     politicians to a complex issue.
       This is what I have seen in my lifetime: A doubling of 
     world population every 25 years; Rising standards of living 
     in large areas of the non-Western European-North American 
     world and rising demand for energy; Finite easily and cheaply 
     accessible oil and gas reserves; Unmistakable evidence of 
     serious environmental damage, in part due to profligate use 
     of fossil fuels; The swing in my lifetime away from efficient 
     affordable public transportation and towards an emphasis on 
     private motor transportation, truck haulage, and air travel; 
     A reversal of conservation measures and the encouragement of 
     alternative energy development began in the seventies.
       There are no quick fixes. The feds and the states can 
     embark on a serious program of conservation. They can see 
     what the Europeans have done along these lines the past 
     thirty years. They can get really serious about public 
     transportation--especially rail--the most efficient way of 
     moving freight and people on land. More efficient engines as 
     well, and smaller vehicles.
       Long term, we need a serious energy strategy that involves 
     alternatives, renewables, and changing lifestyles.
       Can it be done? It better be done, but it will take some 
     real leadership on the national level.
     Cleve, Bonners Ferry.
                                  ____

       Drill! Build new refineries! Stop cowering to the 
     environmental special interests! Stop selling this country's 
     sovereign nation down the tubes. Thank you for trying to do 
     something about this crisis.
       The opportunity to have an open dialog regarding high 
     energy prices is a refreshing change. It is apparent to me 
     that by opening this door you are comfortable in the 
     understanding that elected officials serve the people 
     interest and not visa-versa.
       My family is struggling. The increases we are seeing in the 
     cost of energy are directly affected ``every'' area of our 
     life. We are a simple middle-class family. Prior to this last 
     year, we had seen a steady increase in the cost of living. 
     However the sharp rise over the last year has been so 
     tremendous we have been forced cut way back.
       Highlights from the previous 12 months: We have depleted 
     our savings accounts; We have accepted food donations; We 
     have removed a large majority of all non-essential expenses 
     in the home; We are using the economic stimulus check to pay 
     off our tax debt from last year.
       Idaho's economy is not on an even par with California, 
     Florida, New York or Washington D.C. Wages are substantially 
     lower here. Yet the cost of living is skyrocketing. This is 
     directly due to the higher energy costs. Currently we do not 
     have an alternate source of power to move our industry. A 
     gallon of milk or a dozen eggs are produced, processed and 
     transported with the use of natural gas, coal and oil. These 
     are the three primary resources used by industrial nations to 
     sustain their viability.
       We are losing our viability and limiting our innovation. If 
     you take a look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory, you 
     will see that human nature will move up or down based on 
     whether the needs at a given level are being met. The cost of 
     living is forcing our society to circle the wagons. People 
     are spending money on food that, in some cases, has doubled. 
     Basic services that were affordable in years past are not. 
     Small businesses are suffering. Large businesses are losing 
     the support of small businesses all of which has stalling 
     economic growth. Stalled economic growth creates a cascading 
     snowball pushing us closer and closer to the razor's edge. In 
     our country, we have always been considered a nation of 
     opportunity. We are falling backwards. Hope, vision, trust 
     and growth are losing ground to Fear and Anger.
       As the cost of fuel go up, manufacturers push their costs 
     onto the markets and the markets just push those cost onto 
     the consumer. Initially the manufacturers and markets do not 
     feel a big squeeze because the consumer adjusts to the 
     market. My wife spent about six months adjusting to the 
     market before we gave up and drastically

[[Page S2418]]

     changed our consumer spending habits. Please inform your 
     fellow Senators that until energy cost go down you will see 
     very little of my money coming in from consumer based taxes 
     currently being levied because I refuse to buy ``anything!'' 
     if I cannot supply shelter and food for my family.
       You should warn your fellow Senators that the markets that 
     lobby for their support are going to start screaming very 
     soon, if they are not already, to take action. If the 
     government is unwilling to move based on the requests of the 
     people they server maybe they will move when the markets 
     force them and the money generated from taxes starts to dry 
     up.
       There is a groundswell out here of people that will, out of 
     necessity, organize to find ways to reduce cost without the 
     help of government and without the need to rely on markets. 
     Due to the lack of action by the government to allow for the 
     explore from additional resources, both the government and 
     the markets are going to see a major shift away from a 
     consumer-based economy.
       Reduction in the cost of energy plus a increase the 
     investment in exploration plus increase the investment in 
     alternate energy sources equals Sustainability, Growth, 
     Innovation, Independence, Cost of living reduction, increased 
     revenue.
       Please also remember to remind your fellow Senators that 
     ``We the People'' do not work hard to increase government 
     revenue. We work hard to sustain and/or increase personal 
     revenue.
     Sean, Boise.
                                  ____

       I think this country is going to go down the tubes because 
     no one will take action and are pandering to the extreme 
     environmentalists. Why do we think that the rest of the world 
     needs to take all the risks of oil drilling and we do not. 
     Yes, eventually our country could probably adjust to the lack 
     of oil we have now. But this happened way too fast and 
     adjustments just cannot happen fast enough. We need to have 
     our own supplies and we need to be taking steps now for our 
     own supplies and to develop alternatives. I back 100% the 
     drilling and even going to Alaska. Most people who have lived 
     there or know about the pipelines say that there is almost no 
     negative effects on wildlife. We cannot go on not taking our 
     own risks for our own oil.
       My husband and myself live in a community that is 30 miles 
     from the nearest decent grocery store and jobs. We cannot 
     afford to go out and buy a high gas mileage car right now, so 
     what are we to do? We do not have a mass transit system 
     available to us--not even a bus. I am 65 and never thought 
     that I would see our life end the way it looks like it is 
     going to end. The US has lost its supremacy in this world and 
     we will soon be a second rate country, if not third world.
       Thank you for asking common citizens their opinions. I do 
     not know of anyone that agrees with what is happening and the 
     burying of the heads in the sand. I hate what Pres. Bush has 
     done to this country, but I am very afraid of where we will 
     go under the extreme Democrats.
                                                           Lesley.
       My husband and I are both past retirement age, and we live 
     for the most part on a fixed income, which we supplement by 
     both of us working part-time. My husband is in very poor 
     health, but he has to work in order for us to get by 
     financially. The energy prices are having a great impact on 
     everyone that we know. They have driven up the cost of 
     everything. It does not matter what you buy--it costs more 
     every time you go to the store. Our children live in the 
     Logan, Utah area, the Boise area, and in Houston, Texas. We 
     are now to the point where we cannot go to watch our 
     grandchildren's ball games, school programs, recitals, Church 
     programs etc. We have older grandchildren, so there are 
     showers, weddings, missionary farewells and reports. We have 
     several family gatherings every year, and now we all feel 
     that we cannot afford to travel. I know that you share our 
     beliefs in the importance of the family and spending time 
     together. It no longer is a matter of choice--we cannot 
     afford to visit them, and they cannot afford to come home. 
     When I went to Rigby this morning, gas was $3.93. When I came 
     home an hour later, it was $4.05--a 12-cent raise, and we all 
     know it is just going to continue to go higher. Utah Power 
     has asked for a rate increase, and the cost of propane has 
     increased along with gas prices. Our income will only cover 
     so much expense no matter how much we try to cut back and cut 
     out.
       We support using our own oil--uncapping existing wells, 
     drilling wherever there is oil, drilling in ANWR, and 
     drilling offshore. We support nuclear energy. We do not 
     support the manufacture and use of ethanol. Making ethanol 
     has pushed corn prices out of sight, which has affected 
     livestock prices, further increasing the cost of food. It 
     takes too much energy to produce ethanol for it to be 
     economically feasible. We have been sold the proverbial 
     ``bill of goods'' where ethanol is concerned.
       Thank you for everything that you are doing to try to solve 
     the energy crisis. We appreciate your efforts very much.
     Gary and Julie, Rigby.
                                  ____

       The gas prices have impacted our family significantly. We 
     have three vehicles that we use for transportation. Since the 
     price of gas has increased, we spend almost as much on gas as 
     we do for a house payment. That is excessive! All of our 
     transportation is to and from work and school, and running 
     errand such as doctor appointment and getting groceries.
       We have tried to cut down the car usage by car pooling and 
     riding our bike when possible. This seldom works because our 
     schedules seldom correspond with each other and they are not 
     flexible enough to get them to work; we do not have a bus 
     service out by where we live so that is not an option; we do 
     not have a safe bike lane and/or sidewalks to ride our bikes 
     without competing for space with other vehicles that drive 40 
     to 50 miles an hour even though the speed limit is 35. The 
     meeting places for the Share A Ride Program, are in the 
     opposite direction of where we need to be. We are prisoners 
     of our economy. This is both by gas prices and no other safe 
     alternative.
       The money for gas has got to come from somewhere so we do 
     not go to movies, out to eat, or camping. We have not ever 
     been able to take a typical vacation because our occupations 
     do not pay the type of salary that would support that 
     lifestyle, so camping three times in the summer was our form 
     of vacation. We do not fly anywhere or drive anywhere outside 
     of Boise and Meridian. My husband's family lives in 
     Pocatello, and it has been almost one year since we have 
     visited them.
       Everything has increased in price whether it is directly or 
     indirectly related to rising gas prices. I now hang my 
     clothes out on a clothesline instead of drying them in the 
     dryer; I raise vegetables in the garden instead of supporting 
     the farmer's market; I can anything and everything I can find 
     that is extra produce; we do not use the air conditioning at 
     all; we heat by burning wood in the fireplace. I am not sure 
     how we are going to afford the gas to pay for us to go and 
     cut our firewood for the coming winter.
       All prices are increasing, businesses are failing, 
     unemployment is at an all-time high. It has hit the working 
     class the hardest. The rich get richer and the poor get 
     poorer. For my generation, I feel this is the beginning of 
     our Depression for America. The sad thing is, I do not even 
     see a glimmer of hope for things to change in the next 15 
     years. By then I will be old enough to retire . . . but 
     retire to what?
       Thank you for this opportunity to tell you how our family 
     has been affected by the increase in fuel prices.
     Cathy, Boise.
                                  ____

       I am a [conservative voter] and applaud you for taking on 
     this issue. Please do all you can to lobby your colleagues to 
     vote for some of the following ideas to ease the energy 
     crisis.
       1. Open offshore areas for oil drilling
       2. Begin oil shale operations
       3. Drill in Alaska
       4. Increase our own production of natural gas
       5. Approve CLEAN coal plants
       6. Approve CLEAN nuclear plants
       7. Make it easier to get permits for oil refineries and 
     drilling
       Also, please work with Congress to limit the ability of 
     conservation groups to file lawsuits against the seven items 
     above. I am very tired of individuals and fringe groups 
     bogging down our great country with their ``legal 
     terrorism.''
       Finally, stop using corn for ethanol; investigate hydrogen 
     or electric instead.
     Eric.
                                  ____

       First of all, I am 50% whole bodied disabled and was not 
     able to live on our Social Security system so I am working at 
     what the doctors say I not do in order to make my payments on 
     my bills. Now the gas is over $4.00 a gallon and this makes 
     it worse because I am spending most of my money buying gas to 
     get to work. This also drives up all the basic needs such as 
     food on the table also. All extra activities are not 
     happening period. This is making it difficult when my pay is 
     only $1.15 more an hour than what I made almost 20 years ago. 
     Prices on everything including government must slow down so 
     my wages can catch up. By the way, gas 20 years ago was far 
     less than $0.60 a gallon then. Go figure.
     Doug, Rupert.

                          ____________________