Idahoans Speak Out on High Energy Prices
Floor Speech
IDAHOANS SPEAK OUT ON HIGH ENERGY PRICES -- (Senate - June 20, 2008)
Mr. CRAPO. Mr. 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, now 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: SENATOR CRAPO: We are not going to be able to take any time to enjoy our great state of Idaho this summer as with years past. The gas to go and return from our favorite spots like Stanley basin, Warm Lake, McCall's Ponderosa State Park is just too much to make it enjoyable. The cost of food clearly is reflective of the fuel pricing. This just makes it far too expensive to go anywhere this summer. I am absolutely disgusted in the way our government is allowing this to happen to the American people. I look forward to a movement to begin re-commissioning our own drilling rigs that still sit idle in the Gulf of Mexico. I look forward to a movement to begin drilling on our own land for oil that we all know is right under our own borders. I look forward to a movement to release and discontinue the excessive storage of emergency fuels. I also know that I am not alone in monitoring the existing administration who will not lobby for these items I list to be addressed and resolved. It is time we start taking care of our own with our own resources. This includes limiting the impacts on the greater population by the loud concerns of a few groups. With today's technology we can certainly drill and protect our environment and begin to reduce greatly our dependence on foreign oil(s). Respectfully, -- DEAR SENATOR CRAPO: As one of those who voted for you I am pleased to provide a bit of input on the costs of fuel and the impact on myself, my family, and my business. Just like the majority of Idaho families, our family has been directly impacted by the very high prices of gasoline and the way it happened ..... so quickly and without reprieve or real alternatives. In my business, I must have a good supply of gasoline in order to function. I operate a flight training school for pilots in Nampa. My costs for fuel are always around $10,000 per year and that is normally my one major expense associated with my business outside of the other normal overhead costs any other business has. Even so, it is the Numero Uno cost for my business, and now it is about 50% increased from that already very high price. What compounds this loss is that so many people have become too financially short that my customer base is very low now. Normally, in the past 7 years, I would be looking at a full student schedule, with at least 3 or 4 on a waiting list. This year, I have a 20% load and no waiting list. It is that sparse due to the economy, then compounded by the very high fuel costs. Thanks for the opportunity to provide some direct input on the subject to your office. Sincerely yours, -- DEAR SENATOR: The biggest impact that gas prices has had on me affects our family. We have six married children and one single daughter spread throughout the west. One in Colorado Springs, CO; another in Mesa, AZ; two in the Orem, UT, area; another in dental school at Marquette; and two in the Boise area. We plan a family reunion every summer, which is usually our once-a-year gathering. We have cancelled our reunion this year, scheduled for Colorado Springs, CO, because of the cost of fuel for everyone. I just can't tell you how disappointing it is to all of us not to have an opportunity to be together this year. We hope that it will not stop us next year. I hear all of the reports that America has ample supplies but legislation and environmentalists prevent us from developing the natural resources. We are too late for today, but tomorrow will be here and we need to be prepared to provide for ourselves. All that you can do to make this possible is needed and necessary. Please do your best to make it happen. -- PLEASE pass emergency legislation to exploit America's natural resources. Authorize drilling wherever oil companies think there might be oil or natural gas, authorize nuclear energy and wind power. Set up drilling stations off America's shores instead of letting Cuba and China take our oil. Show some resolve and Yankee ingenuity! Americans will downsize and conserve--the market will take care of that, but you should have had us energy independent years ago. We could be sending money to America instead of supporting people who do not have our country's best interest at heart. Americans used to take care of problems before this developed into such a serious situation. We used to take care of people who wanted to cause us harm instead of insisting on being ``politically correct''. Strong countries do not get attacked. Weak countries like what we are becoming do! Congress and the rest of us have all seen this problem coming for many years. Do nothing now and we are on our way to becoming a second-class country. Please show the leadership that you were elected to use. Make us energy independent. It does not matter if it takes ten years. Ten years ago, if Congress had ``taken care of business,'' we would not be in this dire situation now. Every drop of oil that is produced in this country is one drop that does not have to be imported from another country. -- Dear Senator Crapo: Thank you first for this opportunity to voice my concerns, which I'm sure are no different than millions of others. The energy price effect on me is no different than on, I'm sure again, millions of others. It means no vacation, less ``extracurricular'' activities and simply prioritizing vehicle use. Unfortunately, the energy prices have a ripple affect on a lot of things, but I suspect what has the largest impact is the price of food, which is also increasing substantially as it costs so much more to transport it. I think Congress' number one priority right now should be reducing the cost of oil/gasoline; however, it is done. I believe that, by doing so, you will resolve and/or improve the majority of other inflation concerns, i.e., the cost of food, clothing. By reducing energy costs, it would likely free up businesses to expand and provide additional jobs, thus reducing unemployment. I see gasoline prices as the ``bane'' of our life right now and anything you can do to resolve this problem is much appreciated. -- 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 much--as well as provide 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! -- The rising gas prices have really affected my life. I am a widow who is on a very limited budget--every nickel counts. I am still working and live about 15 miles from my work. There is no public transportation out where I live in Kuna, ID, so I have to bite the bullet and pay these exorbitant prices at the pump, do without going to the movies, out to dinner or buying the new pair of sandals I need for the summer. My elderly mom lives with me and requires lots of travel into town for doctor appointments, which take gas. I usually take her each summer to Wyoming to her home town for a visit. No way can I do it this year what with the gas prices, rising motel costs, food costs, etc. I was in hopes I could look at retiring in a couple of years, but that is definitely on hold now. I can't afford not to work with gas costing me over $50 each week to fill up my car. Sure hope Congress gets going and allows us to start drilling for our own oil! -- What I would like to see is a two-pronged approach, One is drilling offshore in Alaska, and oil shale in Utah/Colorado/Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota, along with nuclear, solar and wind. The other is conserving in ways such as: by 2010 all appliances sold are Energy Star-rated; all houses and mobile homes to be built to the Energy Star rating. Instead of the government giving big grants for research, why not do like the X-prize for space travel and put up money for benchmark improvements in things such as 100-mpg cars, solar improvements, wind generator improvements, home energy use improvements, etc. I used to own a hatchback in the late 1980s that I would get 42-44 miles to the gallon on the highway. Why cars of that size can't get 60+mpg now is beyond me. Without the Republicans acting more like Teddy Roosevelt and less like George Bush, the Democrats will never go along with the offshore or Alaskan drilling. The other thing that you and other Republicans need to do is to go before the American people and say ``The Democrats in Congress are against the middle class jobs and real living middle class wages and benefits that would be provided with the opening of these locations. Norway can drill safely off their shores, and I know the American people can do an even better job of protecting the environment then they can. Thanks for your time, -- For us personally the high costs of fuel and heating oil have caused some huge changes in our lives. We are senior citizens on a fixed income and the rising costs of fuel and food are way greater then our income and projected cost of living raises that we get from Social Security. Recently we had a death in our family--in another state. The cost of driving or flying there made it very hard for us in our decision not to go. Also we are staying home a lot more. We cannot afford pleasure trips so we have to make every trip to town count. We see people who have to drive out of town to work--and the fuel costs can outweigh the benefits of working. I see American aid poured out to other countries who are in crises and yet the crises right here at home are being overlooked. Please take care of Americans first! Stop this oil from going any higher! Sincerely, -- We are an average family of five--Dad, Mom, 16-year-old boy, 9-year-old girl, and 4-year-old girl. My husband is in new home construction, and I am an accounts payable clerk for a university. We both work full-time jobs, and both of us work part-time night and weekend jobs to help make ends-meet. My daughter was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis a year ago, so we have some very big medical expenses. We have had to travel to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, from our home in Rexburg, Idaho, every six weeks for the last year. Because of the rise in gas prices and the rising medical costs, I have to work a second job to pay for these expenses. Our vehicle is a 2005 Yukon that gets about 16 miles to the gallon, so this trip is not economical, but I don't have any choice but to make this trip every six weeks. Because of the rise in gas, I can't even trade my SUV in on another car because the car dealers won't trade with me. My employer provides medical insurance with my monthly premium costing $250 for my family. My daughter's medication is almost $200 per month and I pay hospital/doctors/lab bills almost $300 per month. With each increase in our monthly expenses, it becomes more difficult to pay our bills. We need help! I am hoping and praying for something good to happen that will help reduce our monthly expenses. Thank you, -- DEAR SENATOR CRAPO: As you know the driving distance in our state is unlike most states. My husband and I both travel over 23 miles one way to work every day. Due to the continual increase in cost of the gas we have been carpooling together for over a year now. The biggest problem we have is with every increase in gas so does the increase of everything else you buy, but the wages have not gone up with it. Every time we fill our tank, it takes away from groceries and other necessities; with every increase, we are to the point there is not much more to give up. The cupboards are bare, and we try to get by on what is the cheapest and bare minimum, if it continues to go up as it has, we will get to the point were we have to choose between the mortgages and utilities or gas in the tank. If it were not so far away, we would consider riding horses to work every day. I think as long as the environment and nature is preserved and monitored, domestic production is OK along with alternative sources. We need to quit being so reliant on foreign oil and start helping ourselves not only for now but for the future. -- SIR: I am fairly new to Idaho only been here for five years now. I was from Texas. I had some very good friends who [had to cap their family well, which put out 10 to 15 barrels a day]. A lot of people were hurt, not only in Texas, but in other states as well. We should move forward much faster on the part gas/part electric cars for now even the big one to. We should use our own oil and move to anything that we can make for ourselves. I don't like it, but we have to stop being everyone's go-to-guy and start taking care of us for a change. -- I do not wish to share my story but I would like to recommend that we quit sending the Alaskan oil to Japan and use it within the United States. I also would like to see Congress open up the known oil fields in the United States today (not someday). Many have been shut down and capped for years. Plus we need to explore for new sites as well as start drilling where we already know there is oil. We need to start building refineries and updating the current ones that we have. Why we ever got ourselves in this mess is beyond me. I would also like to recommend that you talk with John McCain and help him get his head on straight. I am not sure why our party has chosen a Socialist for its candidate. If I didn't feel like I was throwing my vote away and maybe even help elect Obama, I would vote for Barr. If the Congress continues to do nothing about the energy problem, I think this nation will come down on Congress with a vengeance. -- The cost of fuel has certainly changed the way I am now living my life. After my retirement, I was planning on visits to my sister (Arizona), my grandkids (Portland) and my cousins in Missouri and New Mexico. Now I am tending my garden, growing as much of my food as possible to supplement and help offset the high price in the grocery store. I am not using my clothes dryer; I am lucky enough to live in a subdivision that still allows clothes lines. This might seem minor, but I am cringing at the cost of heating my home this winter and am applying extra money to the gas company. I do not go out to lunch with my friends; we talk on the phone but do not have lunches out. We are planning on one lunch a month at someone's home. Extra shopping? Not on your life!! Since we have no clue have high fuel is going to go, extra spending is not considered. Is this hurting the economy, no doubt about it, but with no reasonable end in sight we have no choice!! -- I would have much preferred to see the global warming legislation go through. The energy prices right now are short-term pain, but nothing compared to what we're headed for if the current course is maintained on global warming. Please think in the longer term and consider changing your stance on global warming. And please don't send me one of those garbage ``thank you for your support'' automatic responses. I do not support your vote on this.
BILL, Boise.
GARY, Nampa.
DOUG.
STAN, Boise.
KET, Emmett.
UNSIGNED.
LOUISE, Kuna.
UNSIGNED.
RAY AND VI MUELLER, Priest River.
TAUNYA, Rexburg.
ESTHER, Athol.
PHILIP.
SUZETTE.
IRENE.
ILANA, Boise.
Source