[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 21, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4507-S4508]
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:

       I own a small construction business and, on the surface, 
     high prices do hurt my bottom line; however, that is not such 
     a bad thing. I have always been conscious about my personal 
     and worldwide energy use, but the fast rate of price increase 
     has made me even more, especially about my driving. My 
     driving efficiency has increased, and my total mileage for 
     the year has decreased several thousands of miles. This is a 
     good thing especially when I consider that everybody I am 
     talking to is thinking the same way. Statistics say Americans 
     are driving less; that is a good thing. It is good the people 
     get humbled and remember that every bit of energy and every 
     material object we use was made in the natural world and 
     refined using human intelligence; there are no freebies.
       Americans need to plan a future without oil for energy. For 
     some reason, it is taboo to mention solar energy and subsidy 
     in the same sentence. Solar is the best hope for continuous 
     energy yet nobody wants to subsidize the fledgling industry. 
     Farmers and ethanol are subsidized, though they hate to admit 
     it; the coming second nuclear program will be fully 
     subsidized though they attempt to account around it. Even the 
     fossil fuel industry is subsidized, among other ways, by 
     being protected by the U.S. military. (Oil has caused all the 
     havoc in the Middle East, so Iraq and Afghanistan and all the 
     other military deployments acts of security for big oil). 
     Hundreds of billions go to these fruitlessly revolving 
     enterprises. Let us pay to get a nationwide solar plan fully 
     off the ground. Imagine if every single house south facing 
     roof was solar panels and all flat topped roofs were solar 
     panels, we could power the entire country without having to 
     build another structure. Subsidize and organize turning the 
     entire fleet of cars over to solar/battery/electric cars. It 
     would work. Ethanol is a joke, nuclear is a waste, wind is 
     like putting high rise buildings far into the countryside, 
     coal and gas and hydro could be back up to solar; to even the 
     load.
     Pike, Nampa.
                                  ____

       Our family has been working to get out of debt and have 
     breathing room to finally start saving for retirement; but 
     with the price of fuel going up daily, there is no way. In 
     fact we are sinking deeper in debt. We have to really 
     struggle with going to watch the grandchildren play ball or 
     buy groceries. We both have to drive quite a distance to our 
     work each week and now feel trapped. We love our home, but 
     cannot afford the commute, but with the housing market and 
     fuel costs, we cannot sell either! So we are still forced to 
     commute, going straight to where we stay when we go down for 
     our work and then our jobs and back again.
       We have always been a nation of integrity, of a backbone, 
     fueled by necessity. If our government will get out of the 
     way and let her people do what we need to do to be self-
     sufficient again, we will all be better off. It is so sad 
     that so many people think the only way we can make it is if 
     government controls, but when government controls we lose as 
     is shown by the dropping dollar and high fuel prices. We have 
     our own fuel and our own ingenuity, let us use it and refine 
     it.
     Nancy.
                                  ____

       You may not want my input on the high energy prices, 
     because I see a lot of good coming from them. For one thing, 
     the air is a lot cleaner. Also, I would assume there are 
     fewer car accidents/deaths due to fewer cars on the roads. 
     People are improving their health because they are out there 
     walking, bicycling, etc. And I see them reaching out to help 
     one another. It is also forcing people to be more creative in 
     the ways that they are dealing with the higher price of 
     products/food. They are asking themselves, is it something 
     they want or do they actually need it. They are fixing up the 
     things they have instead of throwing them away and filling up 
     the landfill. To me, I see the high energy prices as a change 
     of direction. A good change of direction.
       As for all the money that is being accumulated, I think it 
     would be best used on developing alternate forms of energy--
     wind, solar etc. Drilling for more oil is just going to 
     extend the inevitable. The oil is going to run out and, while 
     we are waiting for it to run out, we will continue to destroy 
     the planet and ourselves.
     Kathleen.
                                  ____

       Thank you for asking for my experience with the recent 
     rapid rise in gasoline/energy prices. My husband and I are in 
     our mid-fifties, and remember the first ``energy crisis'' in 
     the mid 1970s when fuel prices more than doubled but were 
     still way below one dollar. I purchased my first car during 
     that time--a Toyota Corolla that got 36 mpg. My husband 
     reserved his Dodge van which had much lower mileage for only 
     special needs trips; then he purchased a Ford small truck 
     (made by Mazda) which got 35 mpg. It travelled anywhere in 
     Montana the big 4 wheel drives did with some weight in the 
     bed in winter. We have only driven fuel efficient vehicles 
     since, except for the special trip farm/plow vehicles.
       At this time I drive 36 miles round trip from our rural 
     home to work at IDL in Sandpoint. The 2000 Honda CRV gets 29 
     mpg with windows down and 27 mpg with windows up and internal 
     fan using heat or AC. I find I fill up every 10 days (extra 
     errands after work) and am spending perhaps an extra $1/day 
     on gas. Not a big deal.
       My husband has telecommuted for his job as an electrical 
     engineer for the last 13 years so he rarely drives his 
     extremely fuel-efficient Honda Fit--a perfect commuter 
     vehicle for one person at 35+mpg. The little Kubota tractor 
     runs on diesel and uses perhaps 10 gallons per summer season. 
     We can absorb that. Our house is fully electric and electric 
     rates have stayed the same. Food at the grocery store has 
     been increasing for a year or two so we eat smarter and raise 
     our own meat.
       By learning the lesson of the 1970s, we are not victim to 
     the fluctuations of the fossil fuel markets or contributing 
     greatly to the damages which result. Opening fragile and 
     deteriorating ecosystems to offshore drilling will not bring 
     down fuel prices--people are going to get used to them 
     anyway, as they always have. There are still plenty of large 
     expensive SUVs on the roads in Sandpoint.
       If the country, led by Congress, would focus on funneling 
     money to alternative fuels and technologies to get off this 
     destructive bandwagon of the oil companies everyone could be 
     better off. Think about it and please start being a 
     constructive leader.
     Jan.
                                  ____

       The energy crisis is hitting us like almost everyone in 
     Idaho. It is not bad enough that we are paying outrageous 
     prices at the pump but we are also paying nearly twice what 
     we were this time last year at the grocery store. In Idaho we 
     do not have mass transit to utilize so we are stuck paying 
     for the gas at the pump.
       I did have one idea to help Idaho rely less on oil for 
     power. My husband works at the INL and we have seen the 
     negative publicity about nuclear power. The Federal 
     Government owns all that land, as I understand it is about 
     the size of Rhode Island. Why not put wind mills up out 
     there? That would be free power after paying for the wind 
     mills. There is probably enough area for wind mills that they 
     could power the entire state of Idaho without the use of 
     water or oil. You could most likely find some kind of federal 
     grant to help fund the wind mills. It is just one idea for 
     you to consider.
     Gayle.
                                  ____

       I find it absolutely ridiculous that we cannot drill for 
     oil within the United States. I find it insane that we are 
     dependent on foreign sources. I find it ludicrous that 
     Congress refuses to do anything about the issue. I drive 
     forty miles to and from work each day. It is not much, but it 
     adds up quickly at $4.00+ a gallon. I cannot even pay at the 
     pump anymore, because the $75 limit on my credit card will 
     not fill my tank. I fully support the Drill Here, Drill Now, 
     Pay Less campaign. Please support any legislation that 
     increases our energy independence and gets the price down!
     Dann, Rigby.
                                  ____

       This last school year 07-08 I lived in Twin Falls and 
     attended the College of Southern Idaho. We had four girls 
     living in our apartment. The first semester two of us had 
     vehicles and two of my roommates received help from their 
     parents. In January, those two roommates moved out and the 
     two that moved in did not receive financial help from their 
     parents either. Because of rising fuel costs we mostly walked 
     to campus even when it was cold because we could not afford 
     gas (campus is a good 25-35 minute walk one way). And when we 
     did go somewhere like to the grocery store we car pooled. We 
     only ate out if it was a special occasion but even then most 
     of the time we had large dinner parties at our apt and we had 
     every one bring something. But we made it! However with the 
     rising cost of everything, partially due to the

[[Page S4508]]

     rise in energy cost, this next year will be even harder. Yes, 
     we could take out student loans for more than just tuition 
     and books but having large amounts of borrowed money with no 
     guaranteed way to pay it back is scary!
       On another note, my parents now live in Las Vegas, and I 
     have been here visiting for about a month and a half. My 
     father, who is now 57, has worked hard all his life for our 
     family. Now he works even harder. He gets up every morning to 
     leave the house by 5 a.m. so he can walk 15 minutes to catch 
     the bus and then walk for another 20 minutes to be at work by 
     6:30 a.m. so he can save a much-needed $200 a month in gas. 
     It takes him at least 1.5 hours longer each day to get to and 
     from work, that is, if the bus is not so full that he could 
     catch the first one home and would not have to wait for the 
     next one or the next one. He owns two older vehicles that are 
     diesel. When he bought them, diesel was cheaper than gas and 
     they both get 17-18 miles to the gallon. They got the best 
     mileage of SUVs and Trucks. However, even though they are 
     paid for and worth a bit of money, there is no longer a 
     market for vehicles like that so he cannot sell them for 
     close to what they are worth and so he cannot afford to buy 
     another vehicle with better gas mileage.
       In my personal opinion, the United States government may 
     not be able to make energy cost go down but I feel that they 
     could make them more secure. The U.S. relies largely on oil 
     and gas from other countries. Most of those countries are in 
     some of the most unstable parts of the world, meaning our 
     energy supply is unstable. We need to bring it home. Yes, 
     there are countries such as Qatar that are stable and I think 
     we should still support them. However, for example, places 
     such as off the coast of Nigeria (Shell and U.S.-based 
     Chevron have had problems due to lack of stability in the 
     region) are not only unstable for reliance of supply but are 
     unstable for the environment. Even if energy cost will not 
     subside, most likely the stability of supply and price would 
     increase and the environment would be better off over all if 
     we were more self-reliant.
     Emily, Twin Falls.
                                  ____

       My wife, Michelle, and I send our heart-felt thanks for 
     your principled stand for sound energy policy based on 
     factual data and reality as opposed to the potentially 
     catastrophic positions taken by the Democrat party in 
     Congress, and its leadership.
       We are solidly in favor of developing our own oil, coal and 
     natural gas resources to reduce or eliminate our dependency 
     on often hostile, foreign sources for the oil our economy 
     requires. We also support an aggressive nuclear power 
     program, and federal assistance to the nuclear power industry 
     in preventing the array of anti-nuclear, anti-power, anti-
     development and anti-capitalist groups and their attorneys--
     as well as the dozens of federal environmental agencies--from 
     endlessly delaying or preventing nuclear power facility 
     construction progress.
       We agree that alternative energy sources need to be 
     developed by the private sector with as little federal 
     interference as possible, but believe it is misguided to 
     suggest that the oil industry should be spending their 
     capital for R&D into alternative ``fuels''. It seems to us 
     that actions to force the oil industry to do so is the 
     equivalent of federally mandating a private industry to 
     incorporate a profound conflict of interest into their 
     business plan. Logic indicates that such a federal action 
     would drive the oil industry to raise product prices to allow 
     their ongoing oil product R&D activities to continue, while 
     pursuing an alternative fuel R&D program for which the 
     industry and its shareholders would have little, if any, 
     business interest in advancing.
       The X-Prize type concept Senator McCain recently mentioned 
     to encourage R&D to produce a new super battery for powering 
     vehicles is a concept I have had and shared frequently for 
     several years, although I question why the Senator's focus 
     was narrowed only to one type of energy, rather than offering 
     the prize for the first ``vehicle'' to meet defined safety, 
     performance, capability and efficiency standards and allow 
     the private competitors to pursue hydrogen fuel-cell 
     technology, compressed air and steam technologies, advanced 
     internal combustion engine technologies, even micro-nuclear 
     technologies or any combination of technologies, rather than 
     only electrical battery technologies. (Batteries for electric 
     cars might be a practical idea in some applications, but it 
     is doubtful if such R&D would benefit the oil burning 
     aviation or shipping industries.)
       Anyway, we wanted to thank you for being a clear voice for 
     logical solutions to oil supply, and for having the courage 
     to stand against the knee-jerk reactionaries who are intent 
     on convincing the American public that industry greed, rather 
     than governmental interference, has caused the current spikes 
     and the price in oil-based consumer products.
     Steve and Michelle, Melba.
                                  ____

       What we really need to do to help our state and our country 
     is to drill, explore, experiment, expand, and adapt. Drill 
     more oil, explore more options for energy, and experiment 
     with new technology to make our state and our country more 
     independent and healthier. Our country needs to expand our 
     public transportation system and make it easier to use. That 
     is the biggest complaint about public transit. Finally, our 
     whole country needs to adapt and realize that this is not the 
     60s, 70s, 80s or 90s anymore. The economy is different. If we 
     can do this appropriately, then not only do we create jobs, 
     but then we can say we did it without foreign interference.
       I am a big supporter of the SUV. But yesterday, I did the 
     hardest thing I could do. I turned in my SUV to the car lot I 
     purchased it from and am now riding the bus system in Boise. 
     It is not the most convenient since you have to make multiple 
     stops and sometimes go a little out of the way to get where 
     you are going, but for the price of two dollars a day, it is 
     worth it. I take two buses in the morning and walk a mile to 
     get to work every day. Every afternoon I walk a mile and take 
     two buses. I am a mom who manages to get it done. It just 
     takes commitment and help from our legislature to get the 
     nation going in the right direction.
     Shasta, Boise.

                          ____________________