Idahoans Speak Out on High Energy Prices
Floor Speech
IDAHOANS SPEAK OUT ON HIGH ENERGY PRICES -- (Senate - June 23, 2008)
Mr. CRAPO. Madam President, earlier this week, 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 energy There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: MIKE, Thanks for the invitation to vent. Well, that is not what you asked, but here goes. I'm one of those poor widows living on Social Security supplemented by a little bit of freelance writing, and energy costs are increasingly adding to sleepless nights as I worry about how to keep going. Do not cue the violins. I agree with your points on increasing our energy independence, and believe that we are indeed stewards of the earth who will be held accountable by our Creator for how we manage it. I contend that these two points are not mutually exclusive, and who better than the great people of the United States to figure out how to do it. I'm also interested in understanding how futures markets play into the increased cost of gasoline--anything you can tell me about that? Further, how about drastic changes to the red tape required to get nuclear plants up and running? One last thing: If you have any influence with Senator John McCain, please use it to encourage him to come up with an aggressive energy policy post haste and present it to the voters. If ever there were a time, this is it, and he needs all the help he can get from those of us who are supporting him out of common-sense duty rather than devotion. Help, help. Thanks for your ear and I hope this gets to you and not only your staff. -- Mike, My family and I are making choices to limit our expenses as is rational, but we have means and discretionary income to juggle. My wife who is a public school administrator tells a different story regarding some of the pupils she sees right now in her summer school programs. They are showing up to school without breakfast, without a lunch, and no money to even buy snacks. Her schools have not offered free and reduced meals for summer school in the past (did not need to), but are trying desperately to do so now. Their parents, many of whom are working lower-paid jobs, are making very hard choices. Think of the lowest paid tier of workers in our economy. They may not live in comfortable neighborhoods close to their work. Often they drive cars that are affordable up front, but get deplorable gas mileage thereafter. Forget insurance of any kind. In an economy like ours where housing starts and services are down, many of these fathers are working less hours and driving further away to get them. The choices are becoming untenable. I realize that some of the hesitation to address energy in America is part social engineering (which in my opinion is the realm of the passive-aggressive and grossly irresponsible), and part is Washington's age-old reluctance to govern proactively rendering it ineffectual in matters that matter. But, many of your constituents cannot coast through this crisis until it sorts itself out. Worse, the inaction of your colleagues gives us very little hope that our crisis is temporary (if nothing changes, nothing changes). A perfect storm is brewing for our economy; government needs to allow the free market and investors opportunities to produce more energy. Aside from ANWR, there are plenty of places in the lower 48 to bring online (as well as refining capacity) to adress this muddle in less than 10 years. Tell your colleagues to lead, follow, or get out of the way! In the short-term we are going to see more foreclosures, dependency on state and federal aid, and hospitals like ours will see bad debt and charity care skyrocket. Not a time for inaction. Thanks for your interest in this cause, I hope you are able to rally the millionaire's club to some kind of rational response. -- You and Congress know what needs to be done. Drill now--drill HERE! Join China and Cuba off our own shores and become self reliant again. Start drilling in Anwar. Start drilling in Montana. Start using the resources in Colorado in shale. And build more refineries--and you--CONGRESS--loosen the hurdles that make it impossible for anyone drilling and/or building those refineries we need so desperately--loosen the restrictions that hinder providing alternatives (such as nuclear and solar). Stop wasting time telling ``stories''--and loosen the restrictions that environmentalists have shackled us with! Do your job. Just let us become a self reliant nation again! -- Senator Crapo, This is a Republic! We elected you and you fellow Congress men and women to represent us. So far all my family has seen is a lot of incompetency! No one in Congress has done anything to help the situation. Everyone is geared up to their special interests so that they can get re-elected to another term. You guys need to kick the lobbyist out of the halls of Congress and start representing us. My family cannot take trips to see fellow family members, an event that takes place each year, because we cannot afford the fuel costs. Put yourselves in a private room and figure this thing out without any outside forces influencing you. If you cannot do this, resign, and let us find someone who can. I personally do not care if it is nuclear power or Anwar or raising standards for the auto industry or rationing gas. Protect our environment but try to get us out of this mess and solve this problem. You guys are below President Bush in positive polling. Do not you get it??? -- Dear Sir: My wife and I are retired and had planned to enjoy our retirement years by traveling all over the great state of Idaho and see the attractions we did not have time to see when I was employed. This included taking our boat out on the great lakes and rivers during Idaho's hot summers. Now with the combination of high property taxes in Boise, and high fuel prices, we are unable to realize our retirement dreams. The property taxes are going to force us out of our home in which we have lived for 15 years and the high fuel prices will force us to stay at home. We can no longer afford to take vacations to Yellowstone and the other National Parks. We cannot visit my two sons located in San Francisco and Texas. We cannot afford to drive our diesel truck so our boat towing days in McCall are over with. The do nothing Congress has once again lived up to its name with respect to energy. As you know, the US has huge oil reserves off shore along both coastlines, huge deposits of oil in the the Alaskan arctic, but the useless Congress will not lift a finger to allow for exploration of this oil. This forces us all to be held captive by the Middle East, Mexico, and Venezuela since we are so dependent on their oil. The Democrats in Congress place a higher value on politics and listening to the tree hugger and special interest group minorities than on the wishes of the vast middle class of Americans who want the US to be more self sufficient in oil. We have vast coal reserves which cannot be used for the same reasons. I am opposed to the use of nuclear power due to the nuclear waste disposal problem and Congress reluctance to open Yucca Flats. Please--cannot you do something to allow drilling on our own land to rid us of our dependency on the Middle East? Yours truly, -- What's the matter with all the Bozos in Washington? As they sit finely with all of their ``not hard-earned'' tax dollars paying them for what? They sure have screwed up America. Special interests, etc ..... We have our own energy sources right here, right now. Let's use it. ..... NOW!!! The polar bear is on the brink of extinction? I do not think so, since their population has increased from 5000 to 35000 worldwide in the last 25 years. Why we let the elite enviromentalists erode our backbone in America is beyond me. Stupid politicians have no idea what it means to live paycheck to paycheck. I have no idea how I can afford furnace oil for next winter. There is no way I can pay these prices for furnace oil, let alone gasoline for the cars. It gets damn cold here in the winter and last winter lasted like 9 months. Tell those asses sitting on their asses to get off their asses and open up our country to what we have available right here. ..... Do I sound mad?? No kidding. ..... I am sick of politicians being stupid. Time to stand up and take our country back. Time to weed out the enemy within. Time to do what we should do and be self sufficient as a country. -- I could not agree with you more that Congress needs to get moving and do something productive about our country's energy plan. Should we increase our own domestic production--absolutely. ANWR, offshore drilling etc should be used immediately. Enough of the environmentalists blocking every attempt to increase our own production. Nuclear power is a no-brainer. We have the proven technology to produce clean efficient fuel. Again, enough of the environmentalists trying to block every move to store the nuclear waste. How many 100's of millions of dollars have already been spent on Yucca Mountain to use it for the safe storage of nuclear waste--let's use it!! Wind and solar are definitely alternatives but being able to produce the quantity of power we need may not be reality. Use them to supplement more reliable sources such as Nuclear. In summary it is time we take back our own country and for Congress to do something--leading, not political bickering, would be a refreshing idea. Thank you -- We do not want nuclear!! Idaho is already a dumping ground. Nuclear is dirty, dirty energy! Nuclear waste issues must be resolved first. Stick to wind, solar, clean and renewable energy. -- Senator Crapo, Increased domestic oil production or an expanded nuclear energy research are not the best directions for Idaho or the country. If we are talking about the health of our land and people then we should concentrate our research dollars on technical innovation and alternative energies. Just one outcome of technological innovation, the Toyota Prius, has saved more oil in a few years then we would get in over twenty years of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Idaho has incredible alternative resources available. With thermal waters less than a mile below surface throughout the state, we would be an excellent choice for leading the nation in geothermal energy. We have desert areas of the state where the sun shines almost 365 days a year, and plains areas where we could harvest wind power. We do not need lower gas taxes. We need better public transportation. We need leadership that encourages conservation. We need investment in education and research that has the promise of providing a future for our children that is not dependent on nations who do not have our best interests in mind. We have always had independent minds in Idaho. Lets have clean, sustainable energy independence as well. -- The rate of increase in fossil fuel cost is unprecedented and demonstrates that the current administration and prior congresses have failed the American Citizens and for that matter the world by not properly addressing this issue. The energy crises has been a long time in the making and many good people, much of the scientific community and a rare politician or two (i.e. Al Gore) have been trying to do something. I recently bought a home and am watching a minimum of $100/week in fuel cost going to the moving. This has been going on for a few months and will do so for a few more. I rarely take trips from my home in the Lenore and Orofino area to Lewiston to shop. It is just too expensive. Plus the cost of everything else is ramping up due to the fuel cost increases. It saddens me that so much profit is being realized by a few. The economic profits are being controlled and directed to those who also control the flow of public resources. This is capitalism at its worst. Throughout your career, you have demonstrated an indifference to the problem and have associated yourself with those who mischaracterized environmentalists rather than working with them. Your rating by the League of Conservation Voters is a paltry 13% for this year! Now you want to say you are on the same side. Do you really think we can believe or trust you? The biggest part of conservation is reducing demand--not simply looking to pump up more carbon from fragile environments. I think it would be best if you step aside and allow a new generation of thinkers without your baggage and not linked to pollution-generating industries to take the lead. If you truly want to see all America and the world prosper in the future it will take a commitment on your part, to accept a change in the cultures of people, corporations, and government--away from use-up, me only, and profits as the bottom line, to a sustainable economy within the framework of a sustainable healthy environment. This, obviously, does not detract from a major goal of this nation--the pursuit of happiness. Happiness is a personal issue that is influenced by outside factors. Consumerism has made many people believe that more leads to happiness, but the experience of the last half century should speak for itself. Some of the old values such as free time, time with family and friends, having simple hobbies, pursuing knowledge, etc are all examples of low environmental impact ways to be happy. I wish you the best in your retirement and commend you on your career. Encourage your grandchildren to follow a new path. -- As a travel writer and photographer, I am usually on the go much of the time. It used to be nothing to travel a day or two by car to go do a story somewhere for one of the many magazines I write for. But now, due to the high cost of gasoline, I've got to really look at the distances I have to travel because of the high cost of gasoline. There are story opportunities I have to turn down not because of the distance itself, but because of the cost of gasoline to cover that distance. I am retired, so it is not about making a lot of money. If my travel costs are less than what I'll be paid for the articles and photography, I'll usually go do the story. It has been like I'm always on vacation. But now, the travel costs are becoming so expensive it's becoming harder every day to except assignments that require extensive driving to destinations to do the articles. My happy style of travel and retirement are coming to a fast close because of gas prices. My dream when I retired in 1998 was to see as much of the United States as possible and be on the road exploring the unique places I never got around to while I was working. I thought I might even do a book like John Steinbeck did, ``Travels With Charlie'', and illustrate it with my photography from around the United States. Well, that is down the tubes as well. Whenever I leave the house to go somewhere, I have to make sure that I get three or four things done on the trip so as not to waste gas. It has become a real struggle. I feel sorry for the people that have to drive far every day to go to work, it has got to be knocking them for a loop with the price of gas what it is. -- I think we desperately need an energy policy that will utilize our own proven oil and gas reserves. I blame congress in part for the current high energy prices due their continually politicizing the adoption of a workable national energy policy. -- I live in Ashton, Idaho, and drive to Idaho Falls to teach at Idaho State University, so the cost of gas matters. Yet, I also welcome the high costs of gasoline if it forces us to an awareness of how destructive burning fossil fuels is and forces us to change. I absolutely oppose more production of fossil fuels, and urge you to take alternative energy sources seriously: wind, solar, and support these with the kind of subsidies you so easily give to agriculture. Above all, it is time to do something about public transportation, especially the restoration of rail services to rural areas, or support for connecting Idaho to Portland/Denver. Give Idaho transportation alternatives, rather than working within the same addiction to automobiles and fossil fuels. My ``story'' is outrage that government has given so little thought to alternatives. -- Dear Senator Crapo, I strongly believe our efforts to address these energy costs should be concentrated on getting more use out of clean, renewable energy that is already available. Most of us could go a great deal further in our energy conservation efforts; incentives might help. There is already a great deal available in wind and solar energy, I think that with incentives to utilize them and research money directed at improving them we can start to establish a sustainable energy usage for the long term. Increasing drilling in the United States will at most give us a few years of additional oil, if that, at the cost of possibly despoiling a beautiful natural zone and damaging critical bird nesting habitat. Increasing our use of nuclear power when we still have not figured out a safe means of dealing with the waste is similarly irresponsible over the long term. I too have felt the high energy prices, but I do not think they should be used as an excuse to increase our efforts in a failed direction that is causing severe damage to the global environment. It is time that we stop and consider how we can move our energy policy in a different direction for our long-term health. -- I am a substitute teacher for School District #331 in Minidoka County. I have been subbing for 13 years and, until this last year, I worked mostly full days but the occasional half day for teachers who, for various reasons, didn't need to be gone all day. I will no longer go in for half days because it is not economically feasible. We, as subs, are not paid well anyway, and to only get half pay, with gas prices like they are, is not possible anymore. I substitute at the secondary level and there are two schools in Rupert that I work at regularly, Minico High School is about ten minutes away and West Minico Middle School is 20 minutes away. I do not go to Minico or West much any more because of high gas prices. I think we really need to ``drill here, drill now'' because something has got to give. Our wages are not going up! Thank you for caring. ..... -- We continue to build our economy on oil yet we can not produce enough oil in this country for energy independence. It wouldn't matter if we could, because we are capitalist. We would just sell the oil on the global market. We need to look at our current natural resource and use them to our advantage. Brazil switched to sugarcane ethanol, but corn is not the answer to the United States. Our natural resource is coal and natural gas. We should concentrate on making coal cleaner and switch our economy to electricity powered by coal, hydro, nuclear, and wind (most likely in that order). That is energy independence. Quit fighting for something that doesn't exist.
Kathy.
REV. MARK, Nampa.
DAVE.
DON, Star.
ED AND CAROL, Boise.
MAGGIE.
DALE, Meridian.
YVETTE.
PATRICIA.
TOM.
JERRY.
MEL, Boise.
DARRELL.
ARIA, Moscow.
PATTY, Rupert.
BRENT, Boise.
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