Idahoans Speak Out on High Energy Prices
Floor Speech
IDAHOANS SPEAK OUT ON HIGH ENERGY PRICES -- (Senate - September 26, 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 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:
If you want to really understand what is going on with our energy crises, please view all eight sections of: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3870461488930715065.
BRAD and DEE.
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These rising fuel prices are hurting my family and our business! We own a logging company which, being all mechanized, requires use of a lot of fuel. In addition, our jobs are usually 100 miles or more away and even with our employees commuting together, the cost is outrageous. In the logging industry, it is not all that easy to pass the cost on to the customer. The jobs we are doing right now were bid on last year; therefore the price is set and was set without the prediction that the fuel prices were going to be this high. Our employees can forget raises, bonuses or benefits as we cannot afford them, therefore it will be harder to keep and find new employees. We subcontract our log hauling and the truck drivers that have not quit driving completely are charging a fortune to haul our logs to the mills. At this point, we are unsure of our future as a business which, in turn, is affecting our family and our employees' families.
We have to be careful with our spending and put money aside. Forget that vacation to Yellowstone or any camping this summer as the cost of hauling our camp trailer is too high. Forget enjoying our beautiful lakes and rivers as the cost of fueling our boat is too expensive. And even driving to our favorite fishing hole is too costly. These things, our Idaho way of life, that have always been inexpensive family fun are now considered luxuries.
I have always and especially now support utilizing our own natural resources and relying less on foreign sources for anything. Although, I am suspicious that the rising fuel costs can be more controlled and are not just a factor of supply and demand. I wish I could do more other than tell my story and something needs to be done now by those in power. I feel powerless and controlled as you were saying, Mr. Crapo; Idahoans have no choice with the distances we have to travel and the lack of public transportation, and our jobs which require the use of fuel. Thanks for your efforts but this problem needs a solution immediately!
DEANNA, Post Falls.
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One way to give back to the community is to volunteer for a non-profit. My wife does this regularly. The group that she is with will do home visits to help a particular group of people--those that are on the margin about to fail financially. The idea is to give people a little boost and prevent them from falling into a cycle of dependence for a long time.
Frequently, she'd ask me to go with her as they always require two people for safety reasons. I sit and watch the faces of the people being harmed by the current inaction in Congress. They know that so much is riding on what happens in the near future. Today, they are proud and know that they pay their own way. However, they fear having to live off the backs of others, becoming a burden and losing their pride in the process.
People know what is going on. Regarding Congress, the words we speak at these meetings are pretty simple. The people leading this country have worked for a long time to put us in this position. They are pushing you to the ground, and then grinding their heels into your head.
Many are suffering today--not because Congress does not give them stuff, but because Congress erodes the foundation of their prosperity--access to energy.
ROBERT.
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I am a manager of low-income senior housing in Boise. Many of our tenants are on a fixed income and no longer drive. I have been transporting a few of my residents to the food bank as a courtesy to those that cannot drive and who do not have family to help. I have had to discontinue this charitable action because I can no longer afford to drive around unless it is absolutely necessary. This is truly unfortunate. One of the residents told me they cannot afford a taxi (especially now with the higher rates) so how are they supposed to get around?
On a personal note, I used to enjoy recreational activities throughout Idaho. I know I personally cut down on about half of these trips due to the gas prices. This must have a negative impact on tourism and small businesses. I would drive up to Cascade to the Flea Market or to Horseshoe Bend or Lucky Peak to go fishing. I haven't been able to go camping or fishing yet this year. We need some relief from the gas prices because it is impacting everyday quality of life: the price of groceries, visiting friends and family, normal daily activities become a tough choice.
Please help!
AMBER, Boise.
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Normally I wait until election time to express my opinions through my right to vote. However, at this time, I feel so strongly about a plague facing our country that I cannot bear to sit idly by until November, praying for a change to take place. This plague which I speak of is our current gas prices. I am certain you are hearing about this on a daily basis as a representative for the state of Idaho, but I want to be included amongst those who choose to elevate this issue.
Gasoline prices have been a concern since they crept up to the $3/gallon mark for regular, so why is it that nothing is seemingly being done about this by our government as those prices further creep up above the $4/gallon mark? There is plenty of talk, but no immediate action. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average wages earned in Boise for 2007 are $33,072, thanks to the high paying tech jobs that the majority of Boise residents do not possess. Supposedly, the average cost of living here is only $29,864. So, that leaves the ``average'' Boisean with $267 a month to pay their bills outside what is considered ``cost of living'', and those are 2007 statistics. We haven't seen a wage increase in our fair town to compensate for the fact that we are paying double for gasoline what we paid a year ago. Not only is gasoline cost eating up our income, but cost of groceries has gone up as a direct result of cost incurred while transporting food. Many of the people in this area you represent are suffering over something that the government you work for has indirect control over. I plead with you--this issue needs to get resolved prior to the elections in November. We as a country cannot wait five more months for economic relief and then endure the growing pains the first year with the President-elect brings. The rising cost of gasoline and lack of an increase in personal income needs to be addressed immediately. What are you doing to intervene on behalf of the Idahoans? I ask rhetorically, but sincerely. The answer is not to be found in requiring people to purchase more gas-friendly vehicles (they can no longer afford the monthly payment that a new car brings) nor is it to be found in another pittance of a stimulus package. The answer is for our government to be proactive in finding resources for our glorious country to use that come at a considerably lower cost.
ERICA.
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In response to a detailed message as to the effect of gas prices in our family budget, I would like to forward this message; yes, it is another area where it is affecting everyone in just about everything we do. In some ways, it is a good thing to give us an awareness of mistakes we have made in the past and bring about new solutions. One solution that I am aware of is the use of a product called Ferox, which was developed in 1986 from work done on experimental burn rate modifiers for solid rocket propellant systems use in the aerospace industry. Ferox is a catalysis which treats fuel (gas or diesel) so it will burn at a near 100%. The results is a average 20% increase in fuel efficiency, 95% reduction in emissions, 80% increase in oil life, and increase in horsepower as much as 15% & it works 100% of the time doubling engine life. Very affordable to the point of less than $20.00 it will treat up to 150 gallons of fuel giving upwards to a 600% return on the $20.00 investment. We are trying to get the word out to as many as we can, because it is and will make a difference. For more on line information, go to www.FeroxFuelTabs.com/FeroxUSA
GORDON, Twin Falls.
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The environmental movement has just about brought this nation to a standstill and is basically punishing the lower wage earners just so they can try and change society into the model that they feel is relevant for the next century. I truly feel sorry for those people; especially since they are the ones that the ``left'' supposedly is championing the right of.
Drilling for oil is not dangerous to the environment any longer. There is no basis for this thinking in fact, plus there is no evidence that humans have ever been able to do anything that has caused climate change, so we need to stop this insanity and get our country moving forward again and begin using our natural resources.
Are we going to remain hostage to the Arabs and the radical fringe that is taken over this country of ours? Everyone needs to step up and be accountable and do something so we do not become a country that is irrelevant in the world we live in.
LOWELL.
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A really simple way to show your colleagues on Capitol Hill how the high price of fuel is affecting the ``real people in Idaho'' is to give up all the freebies our Senators and Representatives get through the government and try living on your actual salaries for 60 days. No free trips, free airfare or lodging, discounted gas, food, benefits, medical insurance, retirement savings, etc.
Have your families (wives & kids) try and live on what you actually make, just like the ``real people in Idaho.'' Get back in touch with reality and then maybe you will see why some people have to choose between putting gas in the car or food on the table. I know none of our distinguished legislators will actually do this because then you would have to face the facts that Americans are drowning and our government is throwing us anvils to help.
CARALEA, Boise.
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I live in rural Idaho, and my wife and I have five children. Since we have a large family, my wife drives an SUV, which gets an average of 14-16 mpg. Each time we have to run the children to piano, dance, clogging, baseball, etc., it costs us $2-$3. Making several trips a day can cost as much as $15-$20. If you multiply that by 5 days a week X 52 weeks, it becomes very expensive. Our lifestyle has been drastically changed, and I do not see any light at the end of the tunnel. We drive less, we save less and we feel less secure in our future and the future of our children.
The really sad thing is that, because of special interest and environmental groups, we are not able to utilize the resources we have at our disposal. In my opinion, we have sat on our hands for far too long. Drill on the North Slope, drill offshore and develop the technology to extract from oil shale. Let the Middle East sell oil to the Chinese, the Russians and each other. I do not think we can dramatically reduce our consumption in the near future. $100+ a barrel oil will destroy our economy; something needs to be done now!
BRYAN.
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It is really unfortunate that the prices for gasoline have risen to such extreme levels, but we know they will only get worse. I have combated this by riding my bike everyday to and from work and school but I know not everyone has this option. I think that these prices are a wake-up call to us and should be taken seriously. I hate it when people complain about the costs when they are not realizing that driving their trucks and SUVs on a 30-minute commute through town is awful for the environment and completely irresponsible. Although our public transport system [is not adequate], there are ways to work around having to drive. Idahoans are just too lazy. There are park and rides, regular buses, bikes, and the green belt that we can utilize to commute. Congress needs to make it their priority to not just focus on one ``fix'' to the situation, but how we can utilize all of our resources. I think you can promote more bikers if there were safer and larger bike lanes, as well as a more publicized public transportation system with bike racks on them. This problem will always be the topic for summer because everyone wants to go out of town and go camping, when it becomes an environmental issue more so than an economical issue we can combat all of the complaining and suffering. There needs to be a paradigm shift that will only come by congress's support, education, and from advertising these goals. Please consider what I have said. I am in the same boat as other thousands college students who are realizing our real problems and we need to see some change towards clean energy. The only thing I do not agree with, however, is the use of nuclear power. It is a non renewable resource, what we want to get away from and the amount of heating it causes to the water resource it uses is bad for that ecological environment. Thanks for reading my email.
RACHAEL, Boise.
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You are right, gas prices are high! But you really got it wrong voting against the energy bill. It is time to start solving the problem not just pushing it out to the future, where it is going to cost a lot more. You need to start being part of the solution to these challenges, and not part of the problem.
ROB, Boise.
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The rise in gas prices has caused me and my family of three to cut back the number of times we eat out, visit the store and go out for entertainment. We just do the essential things now. If we do decide to do any entertainment, we pay for it on a credit card, the balance of which has been continually rising as our economy has declined.
WALT, Jerome.
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We need another ``Manhattan Project'' to solve the energy problem. Private industry has focused its solution for the energy crises on developing vehicles that will run on something they can ``sell'' you. I noted that a Japanese company (Genepax) is developing a car that runs on water. I believe that a government initiative to develop a vehicle such as that is needed. But, I would not stop there.
Once the technology is perfected, the U.S. should license it to the remainder of the world. That would help to underwrite the cost of the second phase of the solution.
Once the technology is developed, the government should put out a bid for U.S. industry to build such an automobile. (That would put American's back to work). Second, the U.S. should give every taxpaying household one of the cars. (To get one of the new cars you would have to turn in your old car). That would be much better than ``tax cuts'' or ``rebates'', and would serve to get a lot of the old, carbon producing, gas guzzlers off the road.
This solution would, end our dependence on foreign oil; put American's back to work; reduce the emissions problem; and give every American family a boost up.
Of course, the cost would be enormous, but since we can spend $900 billion on a farm bill and untold billions on the Iraq war to maintain our oil supplies, it should not be out of reach.
CHARLES.
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