Idahoans Speak Out on High Energy Prices
Floor Speech
IDAHOANS SPEAK OUT ON HIGH ENERGY PRICES -- (Senate - September 08, 2008)
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 an email address set up for these stories 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:
Priority: Explore in this country for oil
How do high fuel prices affect me and my family? We do not travel nearly as much as before. I am telecommuting one day a week. We have cut out all spending except the bare essentials. We are worried about losing jobs as the economy continues to collapse.
I have no doubt that the fuel prices will continue to increase as the extremists in this country continue to sabotage efforts to tap local fuel sources. They are diligent in their efforts to slowly undermine and destroy this country. Unfortunately, there is no hope that they will be stopped. I am doing what I can to not spend as much on fuel, such as using a wood stove for heat in the winter. Of course, the natural gas-fired furnaces are cleaner-burning, but the extremists do not consider that when they ban mining for gas and oil and, in a roundabout way, drive up the price of everything. Wood for the stove is very cheap or free.
I would use fossil-fuel-free transportation more than I already do if the roadways were safer for that. I could use my horses to get around, but the city codes and the highways are not set up for that. Other people are trying to use bikes. I saw a smashed bike in front of a large vehicle in the middle of a busy road today. The ambulance was just getting to the scene. Not too safe to use bikes.
If nothing effective can be done to bring down fuel prices, then the roadways need to be set up for using horses and carts and bicycles and foot traffic. City codes need to be changed to allow the use of horses and other draft animals. That was the most effective method of transportation before the invention of cars, and draft animals are used in other countries that do not have fossil-fuel-fired vehicles. It is extreme, but all I see are fuel prices going up so fast that quickly most people will not be able to get around. Bicycles are limited as to how much stuff you can haul. So draft animals are the only way.
With the short-sighted ban on horse slaughter, there are now way too many horses around being abandoned and given away. It is the perfect solution: A lot of these unwanted horses can be used for transportation as soon as city codes and CC&R's are changed to allow people to keep horses on small land parcels. I have a few acres and pasture for my horses, but a lot of people do not have that. I cannot use my horses to go to the big towns because the roads are suited for high-speed cars, not for horses. My horses and I would end up like that bike I saw today, twisted and crumpled in the road in front of some large car.
CAROLE, Kuna.
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Thank you for the opportunity to state briefly how higher energy processes are impacting my own life. I like to think of myself as well-educated, environmentally responsible, and having control of my life and my family finances. We are fiscally responsible. We try to live to an established budget. We pay our bills on time, and we set aside money for a rainy day. However, with today's skyrocketing gas prices and energy costs, I do not think we are going to be able to sustain our current lifestyle any longer. We have made cuts where we can. We have tried to reduce the number of trips we need to take in our vehicles, but just doing that is not nearly enough. We have had to cut out some of our luxuries such as cable television. Given what is presented on television these days, that was not too much of a sacrifice, either. Now we are starting to wonder if we will be able to get enough food on the table, or keep our kids in the clothes that they need. We have 3 growing children, and it seems their clothes only fit for a few weeks. Now we are considering reducing the amounts we contribute to our 401K investment plan, cutting out family vacations, and working more hours.
It is funny how the things that are most important in life such as spending time with your children are the things that must suffer because of the condition of the economy. It is frustrating that we are having to cut the investments we are trying to make in our future just to make ends meet today. Further, every bill seems to be going up, and my salary is not increasing at all. We feel lucky to have a job at all as there have been many who have been laid off where I work. We might be considered upper middle class, but I wonder how much longer this will last as the economy and government policies are slowly driving all of us into poverty.
There are a lot of things in the world to worry about. For the sake of my children, I hate to see this direction we are heading in. Also, I am disappointed at how [some of] our lawmakers in Washington, D.C., wish to play politics, but do not seem to have any intentions on fixing the problems. All we see right now [is partisian] posturing just to win votes, economy be damned. They like to tell themselves that they have our best interests in mind, but given the lack of action, I am starting to wonder what good it is to have a government at all. How bad are things going to get before someone starts doing something about it?
What can be done about it? I think we need to step it up on several fronts. We need more gas and oil production here at home. We need to encourage more conservation. We need to demand car companies increase their mpg. We need to actively encourage nuclear power production and stop listening to all the crazy special interest groups that are out there. We need to stop worrying about an international war that is literally draining all of our resources. We have got to stop worrying about universal healthcare and everything else that will not succeed if we do not have a sound economy. Let us get focused and do it now. If we do not, it will be too little, too late.
Thanks for taking a minute to listen to my story. I was starting to wonder if any of our politicians knew we were out here.
JEFF, Iona.
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It goes something like this. I am on Social Security Disability, and my mother and stepfather, aunts, and uncles are on Social Security. In the last ten years, the increase in benefits has been around 2.5% each year. Rent has increased 35%; gas, 50%+; natural gas, 30%; electricity, 35%; food, 30%; and basic water fees were $18 in 1999, and now are over $40.
An economist said that the economy raising 3% per year is a good thing, did not say the price of goods/services going up was a good thing. He meant that those working getting a 3% increase in funds to spend was a good thing.
Thinking that I live on $750 per month, and bills are $350-400 per month, then trying to have insurance to drive a car, I was suspended because I had none. And I thought I would save money by not driving. It does not work that way, as food prices have risen over one-third, which makes getting insurance or paying my fines not on the top of my list. [I may need to rely on friends to drive me to Twin Falls to purchase groceries.]
I understand that things are changing, but I need to ask: how much profit is enough? I also think we should go back to the stipend system for elected officials. Those that lead this government should not be doing it for the money; it should be for the honor of the position.
I would also think that the government running its own business in competition to show a profit for tax relief would be a great way to show corps that it can be done, and it would force the lowering of prices. I think it would be cool to run a state-funded cellphone system, in areas not accessible to cell. The fees could be used for taxes, as well selling the towers for profit to the cellphone corps. Force the suppliers to compete.
ED.
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While no one wants to pay more for anything, and most people are glad to have things for cheap or free, there comes a time to pay what the true value of energy is. Americans have been pretty lucky to pay low energy costs for as long as we have and we have become convinced that cheap energy is our God-given right.
Unfortunately, cheap energy comes at a cost, and future generations have been subsidizing our cheap energy. It is sad that we have been willing to pass the bill on to them in terms of pollution and the national debt. Since our military is in essence used to secure oil, that is another hidden costs that most people do not realize that someone will have to pay.
I do not think paying more for fuel is such a bad thing because I think most people overuse fuel. People need to be more considerate in fuel use, and if higher prices will reduce fuel use, then so be it.
As a farmer who grows food for my local community, higher fuel price actually means I can charge more for the food I grow since food prices are increasing everywhere. I have low transportation costs, so I will actually make more money as a result. I cannot complain about that.
If you sincerely want to do something about energy prices, Senator Crapo, then I suggest you promote the development of local economies, There is no need to ship and truck things from halfway around the world when, in reality, we can be producing what we need locally. That will reduce fuel use, which will lower demand, which will lower prices. We will also be reducing pollution and become more economically self-sufficient.
Our current system is completely unsustainable, and to complain about high fuel prices misses the point. I would much rather have you fighting for sound economic and environmental policies rather than continue to promote a system will at some point will collapse, anyway. As a leader, it is your job to make tough decisions, not pander to what seems to be selfish energy use.
Sincerely,
GARRETT, Moscow.
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Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the effects that high gasoline prices are having on our family's budget. To begin with, we are a family of six: My wife Nancy and I have four children, ages 23, 21, 18, and 16. We live in Boise, and both Nancy and I commute to work on bicycles. I work for the State of Idaho, and my wife is a first grade teacher. We enjoy the jobs we have been blessed with in Boise.
Although we have received consistent salary increases, the percentages of these increases are certainly not keeping up to the increases in a lot of goods and services, and most notably, in gasoline costs.
Commuting on bicycles has saved us money and kept us in good shape, but it does have its risks! Our four children bicycle to work, college and high school. We have one main family car, and two of our children have cars. However, one of the cars is currently ``off the road'' and parked in our driveway. And the other one is destined for that, too. We still use the family car for a number of local trips, but we try to avoid or combine them when possible.
We are planning to take a trip to California in less than two weeks. Each year we take a group of people to help at a place called Gleanings for the Hungry, which is a Christian volunteer organization that processes food and ships it to hungry people all over the world.
We considered taking two vehicles for the seven people who are in our part of the team, but instead we may all crowd into our minivan in order to save gas money and wear and tear on the other car.
So, Senator, these are the ways that the high gas prices have affected us. I do not think that we will see lower gas prices again, so it is time for all of us to use our ``Yankee Ingenuity'' and make the best of this situation.
Sincerely,
KEN.
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I am not surprised in the least that the situation is what it is. Actually, I am a little surprised that energy costs are not much higher at this time. I have been in contact with my Federal Representative, the Honorable Mike Simpson, regarding your update letter, namely, the high cost of gasoline, and energy in general. I sent him a link to a speech given in 2006, by a man that was present, for three years, on the building of the Alaska pipeline. His words were, ``..... I am considering your suggestion to accelerate completion of the Alaskan pipeline with great interest.'' What say you, Senator?
The oil reserves that we hold are more than sufficient, to not only bring our pump prices down, but also allow us to pay off our outrageous, $9.3 Trillion national debt, in the space of five years, and allow us to consume oil for the next 200 years or so (at least!). Perhaps you, Senator Crapo, would be willing to watch this video. You, too, will be enlightened, as I have been by this knowledge, and perhaps will be persuaded to come to the aid of your country, in our darkest hour. This is a link to the video--http://wideeyecinema.com/?p=203.
CURT, Boise.
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Being a sort of forward-looking individual, in 2005 we purchased a Volkswagen Jetta with a diesel engine. It is a wonderful little car, but the unique thing about it is that it gets fifty as in 50 miles per gallon. Now I have watched as our illustrious leadership have mollycoddled the automobile makers here in the U.S. and even actually required the raising of the automobile mileage here in this country to a measly 35 miles per gallon average for vehicles. This when vehicles running on diesel already get way more than that! Now we do not drive that much because of gas and diesel prices, but since I can drive nearly 700 miles on a 14-gallon tank of gas, how often do you think we fill up? Admittedly, the prices of a tank of gas amaze us each time we do fill up, but still, we can, and often do, go a month without buying diesel. Even if I were to drive to ``town'' every day, I could drive almost half a month without filling up!
While such action by our leadership I guess is to be expected, I would like to know when [Congress] will ever get enough gumption to provide leadership for this nation? As a sort of forward-looking individual, I guess it would be fair to say that waiting for anyone living and working within the Beltway to provide any kind of leadership on energy is probably a moot point. While [partisan battles cloud everything,] the world forges ahead, trying hard to ignore the lack of ability to get anything done.
We hire you (elect you) to provide leadership, guide the country in and out of crises but, to be quite frank, [I am extremely disappointed in the partisanship that seems to permeate everything that happens in Congress]. The congressional confidence level is, as you know, at the lowest level ever. Somebody has to do something--even if it is wrong!
Since I do not work in your environment, I do not have a remedy for the environment of ``do nothing'' that seems pervasive in the Beltway. I do believe, however, that all influence from well-paid lobbyists and those with more money that they know what to do with should be put in some kind of less effective position relative to policy influence. While I understand that people need to be able to contact the people representing them, they should be limited to doing so only by the same means as the rest of us who do not and cannot have someone following legislators around influencing them at every turn.
Sorry, Senator, to rant about this on your forum for high energy prices. But I do not think [the current leadership] has or is providing any leadership in this or a variety of other areas. It seems as if we, the public, have to solve our own problems while Congress muddles around [in partisan bickering.] I have a car that gets 50 miles per gallon of fuel--what does your car get? What do your staff cars get? How many of you use any of the many kinds of ``commuter'' transportation available within the beltway?
Have a good day--please try and help us working on the energy problem solve it!
RAYMOND and SHERRY.
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Today I filled 3/4 of my car's gas tank. It cost $80 plus. Need I say more?
GRANT, Boise.
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Thank you for expressing an interest in the situation of one family here in Lewiston. Any time we plan to drive somewhere, we give more thought to the need for the trip and whether it can be postponed or eliminated. In deciding whether to travel, the miles to be driven and our estimated fuel consumption (cost) are discussed. My wife works at LCSC (Lewis Clark State College). Instead of my driving her to her office, I now walk with her to work. The walk saves fuel and gives us time together. Now that the summer air conditioning season is here, we are keeping the thermostat at about 75 deg. If the electric bill is much higher we will raise the thermostat again. With the increased cost of groceries, we are starting to shop in Clarkston, WA; i.e. no state sales tax. Instead of eating out several times a week, we may only go out once now. When getting gasoline, I limit my purchase to about $20, or, about 5 gallons.
We spend a lot of time trying to figure out why in a country with so many natural resources and safe nuclear power we are not developing addition resources for the benefit of the population. Why is an ever expanding polar bear population more important than American citizens?
Thanks for expressing an interest.
AL and HOLLY.
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