[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16202-16204]
[From the U.S. 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 over 1,000, are heartbreaking 
and touching. To respect their efforts, I am submitting every e-mail 
sent to me through [email protected] .gov 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 that today's letters be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Not affected much yet. But then we operate on a CASH basis 
     around here, so we are not drowning in credit card debt while 
     the cost of gas and food skyrockets. Do not drive 45 miles to 
     Sandpoint just to shop anymore.
     Dorothy.
                                  ____

       I want to thank you for keeping us informed of what is 
     going on from your point of view. I, myself, am very 
     disappointed in the lack of positive actions that affect the 
     ``people'' of this great nation with regards to fuel. We have 
     been listening to lots of talk and promises for years since 
     the shot across the bow by foreign oil in the seventies. We 
     are the father of nuclear power and seem to be last in the 
     world to take advantage of it. Let us get with the program. 
     There are far too many environmental laws that do not allow 
     us to develop as we should. Let us look at these laws or, 
     better yet, suspend all environmental considerations during 
     this emergency until the economy and prices get back to 
     normal. Let us start tomorrow and take advantage of our own 
     resources in this country and get away from foreign oil, we 
     can do it and do it fast. Let private industry do what they 
     are capable of and let the government get out of the way 
     other than to remove regulations that stop progress. There 
     are too many regulations on the books now and, in many cases, 
     they contradict each other.
       [Some examples:] hydrogen fuel cells for housing and 
     transportation, and solar energy for heating water and 
     electricity. Every new house built in this nation should be 
     required from now on to use solar and wind power as much as 
     possible and be capable of upgrade as new technologies come 
     on line. The power grid as we now know it is in big trouble, 
     so let us start getting off of it. Do not even think about 
     getting rid of hydroelectric power from our dams. We should 
     be adding more as we should to supply the growing demands and 
     not buckle under to a handful of tree huggers as was the case 
     in Boise County on the Payette River a few years ago.
       I think your estimate of $200 a month for fuel is real 
     conservative; in many cases, it is double that. I have 
     watched mushroom soup go from $.32 a can to $1.50+, and that 
     is totally unacceptable. To me, making fuel out of our food 
     supply is a little crazy. Let us not get carried away with 
     the biofuel stuff until we know more about it. As I 
     understand ethanol, it is not good for the environment and it 
     takes more fuel to make it than it will produce. Petroleum 
     and corn are the main ingredients in many, many, many 
     everyday items I do not think most Americans are aware of; we 
     can do better.
       I have been personally hit by this fuel and food crisis as 
     I just retired from my state job to be able to visit my 
     grandkids and relatives and peruse our family tree and to get 
     a break. I joined the U.S. Navy in 1963 when I was seventeen 
     and have been going like hell ever since. I was medically 
     retired from the US Navy with a medical discharge and VA 
     disability. I am now one of the folks on a fixed income, and 
     these prices did not appear on the horizon when the plans to 
     retire were made. I am not sure how this will affect the big 
     picture, but I do know I cannot travel as I had planned, and 
     that is sad for the whole family. I have folks from Wisconsin 
     to all the states in the Northwest to California. I did a 
     short trip to Winnemucca, Nevada, from Boise, Idaho, for a 
     softball game my granddaughter was in; round trip gas was 
     $225 for my camper; it used to be $50. Where will it stop? I 
     thank you for your letter and please put pressure on whoever 
     is in the way to immediate progress to get out of the way. 
     Remember the Manhattan Project and the first moon shot; it 
     CAN be done.
     Hal, Boise.
                                  ____

       My husband is a logger and, because of the high price of 
     gas, he has been off from work for six months. I wish every 
     Congressman had to live on the same amount of money a week 
     that we have tried to live on $300. We only go into town once 
     every 8 to 10 days, and when we do go to town, we never go 
     anywhere that is not on our list. Last month it cost us over 
     $100 just to go into town four times. It [seems that Congress 
     doesn't have] regard for the working man's life. [Perhaps] 
     they should [try living the same way] we do and I am sure 
     their outlook on our future would be different. We need to 
     drill for oil in our own country and then do not let the gas 
     companies sell the oil to other countries. It is time for a 
     change and please let the change start soon.
     Ruby.
                                  ____

       I do not like the high gas prices, but what I detest is 
     that, for years, it seems that many have preferred to posture 
     and bicker about drilling/not drilling for oil, expanding/
     limiting refinery growth, paying lip service to yet-to-be-
     available alternative energy sources, and demonizing the oil 
     companies rather than making adult, farsighted decisions 
     about our energy needs and creating a responsible policy to 
     meet our needs.
       The same actions that could have--and should have--been 
     taken 10, 15, 20 years ago to put us in a better place today 
     are still being proposed today and ignored again, often by 
     the same people who made the faulty decisions about them 
     originally. It is something that wouldn't be tolerated in the 
     private sector, where leadership would have been fired long 
     ago for such incompetence. Congress needs to put the energy 
     needs and associated security aspects of our country first 
     and take prompt, forceful action or have the decency to get 
     out of the way for someone who will.
       If we are not currently knowledgeable enough or committed 
     enough to quickly develop a full-blown, workable energy 
     policy, here's a temporary policy until we do:
       Drilling may not be the answer, but it is what we need to 
     do while we discover or develop the answer.
       Spread the word, Senator, and leave behind the short-term 
     thinking of the past!
     Gregory.
                                  ____

       The fuel prices are totally out of control. My husband and 
     I run a charter fishing business, which means we have to use 
     hundreds of gallons of fuel every day. The most disappointing 
     part of the whole process is that the government could change 
     things in a heartbeat. I am tired of hearing that car 
     manufacturers have until 2015 to come up with vehicles which 
     will be improved to give around 35 miles per gallon. That is 
     the way the government tries to ``ease'' the citizens' 
     concerns of skyrocketing fuel prices and allay fears of 
     global warming. Right now, as I type this, there is a 
     solution to the problem, an almost immediate solution, and I 
     know there is not only one of them out there. One gentleman 
     in Idaho has invented a carburetor which can be used on any 
     type of vehicle and will increase fuel efficiency to around 
     70 miles to the gallon. So why, I ask with tears in my eyes, 
     does the government

[[Page 16203]]

     not take a stand and mass produce the carburetors? Is not 
     that a novel idea. . . . . imagine what effect that would 
     have on the demand for fuel and therefore the quantity of 
     fuel we would need to purchase from price gougers? The USA 
     can put people on the moon but coming up with fuel efficient 
     transportation is just way beyond their scope of 
     capabilities. Why not take a stand and insist on an immediate 
     improvement in fuel efficiency standards? That would at least 
     be a start. Maybe it wouldn't solve our demand for fuel but 
     it might cut the demand in half. What about this story 
     below--that explains how the government manipulates the 
     public--it is a joke:
       Ron Brandt: 90 MPG Carburetor--Ron Brandt is the inventor 
     of the perm-mag motor. He is of retirement age. When he was a 
     young man, he invented a 90-mpg carburetor. He was paid a 
     visit by a man from Standard Oil, another man, and two men 
     wearing U.S. Marshal uniforms. They told him that if he ever 
     made another carburetor, they would kill him, his wife, and 
     two young children. He was quickly persuaded that his life 
     wasn't worth a ``damn'' carburetor. He happened to think to 
     memorize the badge numbers of the two U.S. Marshals, and so 
     had an attorney in Washington, DC check with the U.S. 
     Marshal's office. They had no record of the two badge 
     numbers.
     Rene.
                                  ____

       I normally go to Colorado to get my grandchildren for the 
     summer; however, this year I have had to put it off for a 
     while. Because my parents are both in their late 80s and my 
     mother had cancer last year, I go to Florida every year 
     around Thanksgiving. Having to save more for airline tickets 
     means I do not have money for the local trips I normally take 
     during the summer. I have even had to curtail my fishing. I 
     have had to stop or go less often to my various camping 
     spots. We generally have a family get together, but we are 
     not this year because of the expense some would experience in 
     traveling here. In short, we are traveling less, going less 
     distance when we do travel and spending less at hotels and 
     restaurants, but we are seeing less of our extended family.
     Sheila.
                                  ____

       I am not surprised by the ``high'' prices for fuel. Most of 
     Europe has paid these prices for years; when I was in Germany 
     in the mid-80s the price was about $4/gallon. We have kept 
     the fuel prices artificially low here in the U.S. for various 
     reasons. This has led to waste (Hummers, Escalades, etc.) and 
     disincentive for change/improvements in our fuel/
     transportation situation. I am happy to see the prices climb, 
     as this will force conservation, alternative energy types and 
     improvements in fuel mileage, etc. We declared that this 
     situation would never occur again in the early 70s with the 
     OPEC slowdown on oil production--seems that our collective 
     memories are rather short.
     Gustaf, Moscow.
                                  ____

       All of my family is being hit very hard by the gas prices. 
     I do not understand why anyone would stand against us 
     drilling oil on our own land and/or working towards any type 
     of energy that would make us self-sufficient against our 
     enemies. I am ready to drill here in the U.S. Please support 
     us. Another question: why, if we are spending billions of 
     dollars supporting and rebuilding IRAQ, are we not getting 
     some of their oil?
     Cindi.
                                  ____

       As soon as the price of fossil fuels, and the electorate's 
     reaction to it, drives the political will in Washington and 
     the rest of the world's capitals to get serious about making 
     policy that threatens to bring about the conversion of our 
     energy paradigm to self-renewing, non polluting, less 
     profitable energy sources, which are available, simple, 
     plentiful and inexhaustible, look for oil to drop to $30 and 
     gasoline prices to drop back below $2/gallon. Through long 
     experience, those who put profits above the health and well-
     being of future generations have learned how to milk the most 
     possible money out of the market without killing the milk 
     cow. The reason [some have] always been opposed to the REAL 
     emphasis on self-renewing energy technologies that is needed 
     to help those burgeoning industries get a level playing field 
     with the fossil fuels powerhouses is that they are 
     [financially connected to the oil, gas and coal industries. 
     Recent presidential administrations have not set an example, 
     regardless of the party affiliation of the president.] And 
     THAT, Senator, is why you now have a special email address 
     for remarks about fossil fuel prices. Thanks for your 
     concern. Wish it had come many years earlier!
     William, Tetonia.
                                  ____

       Thank you for your email information on your stand on the 
     economy and its ever-
     increasing price increases.
       I am a business owner and self employed. I care for two 
     adult handicapped women and I am a co-partner in our painting 
     business with my husband. We know that the increase of one 
     major product strongly affects all products and services, 
     specifically oil and electricity. I grew up in Alaska, and 
     lived there for 18 years, especially at the time the Alaska 
     Pipeline was put in place. My husband worked in the oil 
     fields of Wyoming in the early 1980s. We have personally seen 
     the expansion and development of natural resources. We now 
     reside in Eastern Idaho. We have seen the increased use of 
     wind towers to generate wind electricity. Knowing the days of 
     wind compared to the days of no wind in Eastern Idaho, we 
     appreciate the justification of tapping this source of 
     energy.
       I have seen inventions that create more economical use of 
     the gasoline powered vehicles, and then the invention is 
     halted, or made to disappear, because it gets people too good 
     gas mileage. Hydro engines are an example, and gasoline 
     engines that get 50 or more miles to the gallon. I witnessed 
     the electrical price increases every year for the last 15 
     years. While the average citizen just has to sit by and take 
     it, I think it is criminal how those who govern the sources 
     of electricity and oil consider their resources a priceless 
     commodity, and are encouraged to increase the price of them 
     at a drop of a suggestion. It is interesting how we create 
     the need and dependency for electricity and oil, only to have 
     created a destructive power to control the price and supply 
     of the need.
       Sometimes I consider the foresight of our forefathers 
     recognizing the impact that greed and pride which puts one's 
     value above another, how this concept seems to be the ever-
     increasing normal opinion of controlling business, and how 
     they can take advantage of those who contribute to their 
     wealth. I believe the answers are already there, the 
     solutions of resource and need have already been developed, 
     but the pride of those who control outweighs the circumstance 
     of financial availability for the everyday person.
       It is great to acknowledge that gas prices went 
     ridiculously high, but the reasons for them are at best made 
     to protect those who imposed the increases. I am constantly 
     reminded of the gas shortage of the late 1970s. People lined 
     up, only being allowed to purchase a few dollars of gas to 
     get to work. The biggest pretense for the reasoning power 
     behind this was to increase gas prices; there was NO shortage 
     then, there is NO shortage now. Those who have seen and know 
     the process of control understand how a little information is 
     necessary, but the full puzzle pieces kept from being put in 
     place can create loopholes and safety nets for those in the 
     controlling power of supply and demand. The public of America 
     does not know the amount of capped off and reserved oil wells 
     drilled 20, 30 or more years ago, here in America. We, as a 
     public, are not informed as to the actual amount of oil that 
     truly goes out of Alaska. One could surmise to the extent, 
     because of the `dividend' cash given to its residents for 
     over 20 years now.
       America's, Idaho citizens see what is really going on; we 
     have just been conditioned to have the feeling we have no 
     power or say in how it goes in our favor. We have been taught 
     by the public system that government and its process are left 
     to elected officials; that supply and demand concepts are in 
     the control of those with the most material wealth and power.
       If our elected officials really want to help make a 
     difference, then say what needs to be done and the process to 
     make it happen. The power of wealth may be strong, but the 
     power of numbers may overturn that philosophy one day. 
     History repeats itself often. America became America because 
     a repressed people sought to be free of ``tyranny.'' It is a 
     process of greed and power that creates tyranny, and so the 
     process will continue until the greed and power of those who 
     impose it on others cease.
       I appreciate your time in hearing my thoughts on the 
     matter.
           Sincerely,
     Annette.
                                  ____

       We are on fixed income (retired). Our annual income is 
     about $50,000. All our vehicles are debt-free, but they are 
     1999 models. Our car gets 31 mpg, and the pickup gets 16 mpg. 
     We cannot afford to buy new more energy-efficient vehicles, 
     so if the auto industry suddenly produces a car that gets 40 
     mpg, we cannot afford to buy it.
       We have family in Denver and Alaska. We had planned to 
     travel to both places periodically, but cannot due to the 
     energy prices.
       We do not have a choice to buy our gas at a reduction in 
     that all the stations in our town are basically at the same 
     rate per gallon (price fixing??).
       Our house cost and household energy costs are rather stable 
     at this time so the excess funds needed for gas/diesel has to 
     be taken from our grocery bill and optional health care 
     elections that we may need.
       The rhetoric about how Congress is going to fix matters--it 
     is not as simple as waving a magic wand. Nothing I have heard 
     thus far is immediate unless our Middle East ``friends'' 
     decide to be compassionate toward a country that has 
     volunteered to free them from the enslaving control of 
     dictators.
       We need immediate relief . . . not platitudes about ``plans 
     on the horizon.'' Unfortunately, no one has made long range 
     energy plans and now we are paying for it.
       Congress has succumbed to the environmentalists and has 
     forgotten ``Joe Average Citizen.'' This is my opinion, but 
     nevertheless is true.
                                              Robert, Idaho Falls.

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