[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Pages 22634-22636]
[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 well over 1,000, are 
heartbreaking and touching. To respect their efforts, 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:

       Instead of getting out the state crying towel and airing a 
     lot of sob stories about how people are suffering from high 
     energy prices, why does not Congress start a meaningful 
     course toward reducing oil prices by doing the following:
       1. Open some of the areas of known oil reserves that have 
     been placed ``off limits'' by irrational environmentalists 
     bent on destroying this nation's economy (it is working, by 
     the way) and encourage drilling in such places as the ANWAR, 
     the known oil and coal fields in southern Utah, drilling off 
     the western coast of California (let the bastards look at the 
     Sierra Nevadas for scenery

[[Page 22635]]

     if they do not believe they'll like what they see with 
     national security pouring from offshore rigs);
       2. Encourage and authorize the construction of more 
     refineries and decentralize them so that natural disasters 
     (like Katrina) will not do irreparable damage to the oil 
     supply system of this nation;
       3. Hasten the construction of new nuclear reactors, even 
     breeder reactors, for the safe and clean production of 
     electricity. There are plenty of open, remote areas in Idaho, 
     Nevada, Wyoming, Montana and Oregon to place several high-
     capacity nuclear reactors which would offer a significant 
     bolster to power production and release oil for gasoline and 
     diesel production instead of powering filthy gas-guzzling 
     electricity generation plants;
       4. And lastly, but not least, trash the ill-conceived corn-
     fed ethanol generation plan. What makes sense about using 1.2 
     gallons of energy to produce a single gallon of ethanol? 
     Which idiots in your no longer august institution bought into 
     that lunacy?
     Robert.
                                  ____

       It seems the Senate and Congress have done nothing to help 
     Americans when our way of life is being downgraded by high 
     fuel, taxes, groceries and many other things. It seems the 
     only thing they can pass is a pay raise for them, if their 
     work performance was what a pay raise was based on, they 
     would not have had one for decades. They would be fired at 
     any other job. There should not be one power plant in our 
     country using oil to make electricity. There should be a tax 
     credit and time limit on every household that heats with oil 
     to convert to electricity or something else. Why do we allow 
     the cost of natural gas and propane to climb along with oil 
     when we do have plenty of supplies? There are so many things 
     broken in our country while the Congress and Senate do 
     nothing that I wonder if there will be an America in 20 
     years.
     Barry.
                                  ____

       Hardest hit are Idahoans who have to drive to work every 
     day in order to pay their bills, provide for their families 
     and pay their taxes, and I feel sorry for them. Not far 
     behind are senior citizens trying to make ends meet. I worked 
     34 years with one company, for which I am paid a modest 
     monthly pension. That pension has not changed since my 
     retirement in 1980. And you know what has happened to the 
     cost of living since then. ``Skyrocketed'' would a close one-
     word definition. I am fortunate that I do not have to drive 
     every day, but I do have to drive to the doctor's office, to 
     the grocery store, to the pharmacy. I have cut out all 
     pleasure travel to such favorites as Cascade, McCall and Sun 
     Valley. Can no longer afford air travel. I now pay three 
     times what I once paid for gasoline, and that increase has to 
     come from somewhere, right? It comes out of the grocery 
     money, prescription drug costs, and living expenses, which 
     are also on the rise.
       I am sadly disappointed in our government for allowing the 
     U.S. to become dependent on Middle Eastern countries for our 
     most of our energy needs. Now we are at their mercy, and they 
     are not big on mercy, as we have found out. Everybody saw 
     this coming, but nobody did anything about it. Big food 
     distributors could have and should have decentralized long 
     ago. Instead of wasting money on ethanol, windmills, and 
     finger-pointing, our government should have been busy solving 
     its problems. It should have opened the way to real alternate 
     energy sources (including nuclear). It should have allowed, 
     even encouraged, more refineries. It should have allowed, 
     even encouraged, the tapping of our vast oil reserves. (If 
     the intent was to save it for a rainy day--that day is 
     unquestionably here.) And it should have pursued ways of 
     discouraging wasteful uses of energy.
       I can remember the day when Japan copied our inventions. 
     Now Japan has taken the lead in research and development. 
     They are acting responsibly. They are on their way to mass 
     producing a vehicle that will run (really!) on nothing but 
     water. What ever happened to our Yankee ingenuity? Why did 
     not Detroit think of this first?
     Willard, Boise.
                                  ____

       Because of rising energy costs, we have been driving less, 
     biking more. We have started to implement changes to our 
     business whereby we will use less fossil fuel overall. (My 
     husband and I are artists who use a propane-fired furnace to 
     produce our work.) We are marketing our artwork more locally 
     instead of nationally because of high shipping costs. We are 
     considering building a greenhouse to grow some of our own 
     food and have joined a Community Supported Farm.
       I do support diversifying our energy sources, especially 
     wind, and solar and some hydropower. I also support programs 
     that would encourage conservation and teach people about the 
     real costs (war and pollution, to name a few) of our energy 
     consumption. In addition, I would especially support any 
     programs that include public transportation as a priority; 
     yes, even in Idaho. We have public transportation over Teton 
     Pass and in Jackson, Wyoming, and it is widely used and 
     appreciated. There are also private shuttles that operate 
     bringing people from southeast Idaho to the Salt Lake City 
     airport. They are very reasonable and also widely used. I 
     also support any legislation which can encourage the 
     development and production of truly energy efficient 
     vehicles, some kind of tax break for those who buy them for 
     instance.
       I do not support drilling for oil in some of our most 
     pristine areas which support rare wildlife. Once these areas 
     are destroyed or heavily impacted, they are gone forever. I 
     do not trust that mining in these areas would be done in an 
     environmentally conscious way. There is very little mining 
     that is done consciously.
       I think the overall emphasis needs to be using less, rather 
     than finding more oil. It is, after all, a finite resource. 
     We have essentially been living on borrowed time with regards 
     to our consumption.
     Mary, Driggs.
                                  ____

       We seem to be worry about just the cost of gas, but it is 
     going to affect everything we do, buy and consume. I am a 
     single man and on a tight budget. I am aware of what things 
     cost. I have even been seeing the cost of groceries starting 
     to inch up. Eventually everything will go up in price and we 
     in the US are going to find ourselves not able to live as we 
     have for so many years. Spending will stop, businesses will 
     cut back or even close their doors, unemployment will go up 
     and we will be just like any Third World country with its 
     people literally starving to death. We the people of the 
     United States have a false hope that government will come to 
     the rescue. I would hope so but, Mr. Crapo, I do not think 
     you have the power any more to do so. I hope and pray that 
     Congress are on their knees humbling yourselves and getting 
     help and direction from above.
       A concerned citizen,
     Mac.
                                  ____

       I do not support increasing gas supplies. If our 
     politicians weren't so short-sighted, we would have plenty 
     for our needs.
       Why do you suppose that Idahoans drive so much? Because we 
     have no mass transit! If you really want to help your 
     constituents, get them out of their cars.
       I have an 18-year-old son who is planning to attend BSU 
     next year. We live right here in Boise, and it is inexcusable 
     that he will not be able to rely on our bus system to get to 
     campus. What if he has a night class? What if he needs to be 
     on campus on Sunday for study? What if he has a date and they 
     would like to go out to the mall for a movie or to hang out 
     with friends?
       Wake up, Mr. Crapo--Idaho needs smart leaders who will make 
     us energy independent and it can start with a real transit 
     system. Oh, and how about some real incentives to get us off 
     of oil? Like tax credits for solar so the average homeowner 
     could actually afford it? Like major incentives for 
     businesses that support telecommuting? How about tax cuts for 
     innovations like fuel cells and electric vehicles?
     Susan.
                                  ____

       The biggest group to blame about high energy prices, Mr. 
     Crapo, is you and your colleagues in the United States 
     Congress. Congress has put this country in a hole that it 
     quite possible can never dig itself out of. The unfriendly 
     energy legislation that has been passed over the years is 
     unbelievable. You (Congress) have put the U.S. in a great 
     security risk, with our dependence on foreign countries for 
     our energy needs. Shame on you all. France of all countries 
     gets roughly 80% of its power from nuclear energy. Germany 
     plans on building 27 new coal fire plants by 2020. Yet, due 
     to poor planning by the U.S. government, those types of 
     plants have absolutely no chance of getting built in the U.S. 
     today. The other powers in the world are just sitting back 
     and watching us crumble from within. The Energy policy or 
     lack there of is dandy; you push ethanol so now not only do 
     we pay high prices for gas; we pay high prices for food 
     products. When was the last time a refinery was built? The 
     headaches the U.S. government has put in place make it 
     impossible to build one. Why should an oil company build one 
     here when they can do it in another country for less hassle?
       The average American is getting killed by high energy 
     prices and what has been done by Congress to help? Absolutely 
     nothing. You sit in Washington and bicker back and forth like 
     children. When will Congress realize that if you do not take 
     action soon it will be too late? You need to absolutely treat 
     this as a national security threat. Why aren't we pushing for 
     hydrogen technology? Car makers have cars ready but the 
     infrastructure is not in place. We will spend $100 billion in 
     Iraq, but that money is better spent in our own country 
     building our hydrogen infrastructure. Good job again boys! 
     When are you going to make our country the priority? 
     Obviously hydrogen technology is not the only answer. We need 
     legislation to promote energy independence not legislation 
     that hinders it.
       Everyone can see what our future looks like under the 
     current trend. You are putting my children's future in 
     jeopardy with inaction. How does it feel knowing that your 
     generation is responsible for the destruction of the greatest 
     country in the history of the world?
     Dan.
                                  ____

       I lived in rural Idaho and enjoyed a wonderful place out in 
     the Lake Lowell area. We

[[Page 22636]]

     had a park-like setting out in the country with farm fields 
     all around us. It was quiet and peaceful, a great place to 
     raise the kids. The drawbacks were becoming too detrimental 
     to overcome. Along with all the advantages to living out 
     there, the disadvantages started to add up. They were not 
     disadvantages until we got into a stupid war with the Middle 
     East. We have had one after another setback with the 
     refineries due to natural occurrences and ``scheduled 
     maintenance'' taking the refineries offline. I lived five 
     miles to the closest grocery store, so I would call my wife 
     every day before returning home to combine a trip. The kids 
     had to go seven miles one way to school (my wife does not 
     trust the bus companies since they do not offer seatbelts 
     (another hard thing to take--the seatbelt law). I rode the 
     commuter bus from Nampa into Boise. It was very inconvenient; 
     I had to drive a ways to catch any buses, and then they only 
     operate during a two-hour window in the AM and the PM.
       I ended up selling my house, moving to Boise and 
     eliminating my commute. We rarely drive any more. It is not 
     that we cannot now afford it, but things are close enough to 
     reach by walking. It certainly is not because we improved our 
     public transportation situation. I still have to walk a 
     quarter-mile to the closest bus stop, and I live on Curtis 
     Road between Northview and Fairview. The problem with this 
     bus system is the lack of it. When I was commuting, I had 
     extensive contact with the management and people involved in 
     public transportation, trying to understand it. Literally, 
     nobody knew what was going on outside of the level they 
     worked, up or down, within any aspect of that operation. I 
     could go on and on the issues I raised with them, offering 
     ways to increase funding, ridership, the like. All shot down 
     with excuses. I had even contacted the County Commissioners, 
     the City Commissioners. Nothing but excuses. Idaho does not 
     want to fix it, and they will not. It will take a major 
     commitment by City, County, and State officials. They even 
     fought about who had the right to widen Ustick Road. The 
     County and the State fighting over territory (ridiculous).
       My thoughts and comments may not appear too concise, but I 
     have fought this fight and met resistance and stupidity on 
     every level trying to make it better. I ask the questions and 
     get ridiculous answers. They forward my emails around 
     commenting to each other, ``I am glad this was not directed 
     at me!'' Very frustrating, but if you can do anything about 
     public transportation, [I would appreciate it].
     James.
                                  ____

       I would like to express my concerns regarding energy 
     prices. I live in a rural community in southeast Idaho where 
     everything is miles away. We have to drive a minimum of 20 
     miles each way to just get to the grocery store and back. As 
     there is no industry in our area, I also commute over 120 
     miles round trip to work every day. The housing market in 
     rural Idaho is also depressed, which precludes me from 
     selling to move closer to work. In addition, since the food 
     at the store needs to be trucked a long way; the cost of 
     diesel is being passed through as increased prices in the 
     store upping our food bill. The cost of our gas is up over 
     $100 per month compared to last year making a severe impact 
     on our family's budget, leaving little extra for other 
     purchases.
       In addition to this, we have to heat with propane as that 
     and electricity is the only sources of heat available. Our 
     propane bill to heat our home this last winter was 
     approximately $2,800 as the price of propane has increased 
     dramatically. That is close to a $1,000 more than the 
     previous year, even with the thermostat set at 69 degrees. I 
     have considered purchasing electric heaters instead of using 
     my propane forced air furnace (which is only 5 years old and 
     quite efficient). However, with the loss of the BPA credit on 
     our power bills and the talk of 25-45% increases in 
     electricity cost, I am not sure this will help very much.
       I would like to respectfully suggest that you as members of 
     the Senate look at ways to provide some relief to those of us 
     in the West where long distances prohibit other means of 
     getting around other than driving. I would respectfully 
     suggest that legislation be presented that would remove some 
     of the environmental restrictions so the oil companies can 
     increase their refining capabilities and be allowed to drill 
     in areas with known oil reserves which would increase supply, 
     reduce costs and dependence on foreign sources of oil. This 
     would be only a short-term fix and I would suggest that the 
     Senate also look at increasing funding for research or 
     incentives to encourage development of alternative sources of 
     energy that will reduce the need to rely on oil (i.e. nuclear 
     energy, wind and solar power, increasing hydro power 
     generation, hydrogen fuel cell technology, synthetic fuel 
     production from coal, methane generators utilizing the 
     methane from old landfills, etc.).
       With the demand from China and other rapidly developing 
     countries continuing to climb which reduces supplies of oil 
     available for us, this problem is going to continue to 
     escalate exponentially. We are already behind the curve and, 
     even if we act quickly, the problem is still years away from 
     improving. The time for sitting on our hands is past. We need 
     to act quickly to protect our countries way of life, economy, 
     defense, and to make sure our kids have the energy resources 
     they need in the future.
     Tom, Clifton.
                                  ____

       I am not telling you something that you do not already 
     know. Our country, including Idaho, is very dependent on 
     transportation for survival. Most everything we sell needs to 
     move out of Idaho and everything we use needs to be brought 
     in, and we pay the freight both ways. When the transportation 
     system collapses due to high fuel costs, the economy will 
     collapse also. We need to get our act together and develop 
     our own oil reserves and refineries, if it is not too late. 
     We need to develop nuclear power, if it is not too late. Our 
     crisis is real, and it seems that Washington is just sitting 
     around waiting. Our food supply is a national security issue 
     and energy is the cornerstone of everything is enjoyed and 
     need.
       Thanks for all you do,
     Ralph, Island Park.
                                  ____

       We are all affected because of the inaction or our elected 
     representatives. There have been no efforts to correct our 
     dependence on oil from others. The same with our drug 
     costs!!! We have been sold out to the chemicals Companies in 
     this country; there is no way that they should be so high. We 
     must go to Mexico, Canada and India to get our meds. Do 
     something please about these problems. Because of the greedy, 
     this country is going to socialism.
     Marlin.
                                  ____

       I have to put almost all of my gas purchases on my credit 
     cards because of the huge increase in costs. This has greatly 
     increased my credit card debt, and continues to increase my 
     payments on my credit cards, with no end in sight. I am not 
     getting any pay raises at work due to economy, and my wife 
     has taken extra jobs to help make ends meet yet we are still 
     falling behind. I owed next to zero on my credit cards a year 
     and a half ago; I now have over $12,000 related mostly to the 
     increase in cost of fuel. Why cannot we reintroduce 55 mph 
     speed limits? This would greatly cut down the demand for 
     fuel, which should decrease the cost.
     Rex, Rigby.
                                  ____

       Although we were warned in the early eighties, there was no 
     effort made to correct our path. We are seeing the 
     repercussions of past failures to act on this threat. 
     Although the cost of energy is a serious detriment to the 
     economic stability of America, I still believe that the 
     invasion of our country by Mexican nationals in the future 
     will prove to be a far more serious problem. Still our 
     Congress deals with the use of steroids and other trivial 
     matters, rather than dealing with immigration, Social 
     Security and national security. As today's youth would ask--
     what is up with that?
     Bill.

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