[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12] [Senate] [Pages 16202-16204] [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 over 1,000, are heartbreaking and touching. To respect their efforts, I am submitting every e-mail sent to me through [email protected] .gov 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 that today's letters be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: Not affected much yet. But then we operate on a CASH basis around here, so we are not drowning in credit card debt while the cost of gas and food skyrockets. Do not drive 45 miles to Sandpoint just to shop anymore. Dorothy. ____ I want to thank you for keeping us informed of what is going on from your point of view. I, myself, am very disappointed in the lack of positive actions that affect the ``people'' of this great nation with regards to fuel. We have been listening to lots of talk and promises for years since the shot across the bow by foreign oil in the seventies. We are the father of nuclear power and seem to be last in the world to take advantage of it. Let us get with the program. There are far too many environmental laws that do not allow us to develop as we should. Let us look at these laws or, better yet, suspend all environmental considerations during this emergency until the economy and prices get back to normal. Let us start tomorrow and take advantage of our own resources in this country and get away from foreign oil, we can do it and do it fast. Let private industry do what they are capable of and let the government get out of the way other than to remove regulations that stop progress. There are too many regulations on the books now and, in many cases, they contradict each other. [Some examples:] hydrogen fuel cells for housing and transportation, and solar energy for heating water and electricity. Every new house built in this nation should be required from now on to use solar and wind power as much as possible and be capable of upgrade as new technologies come on line. The power grid as we now know it is in big trouble, so let us start getting off of it. Do not even think about getting rid of hydroelectric power from our dams. We should be adding more as we should to supply the growing demands and not buckle under to a handful of tree huggers as was the case in Boise County on the Payette River a few years ago. I think your estimate of $200 a month for fuel is real conservative; in many cases, it is double that. I have watched mushroom soup go from $.32 a can to $1.50+, and that is totally unacceptable. To me, making fuel out of our food supply is a little crazy. Let us not get carried away with the biofuel stuff until we know more about it. As I understand ethanol, it is not good for the environment and it takes more fuel to make it than it will produce. Petroleum and corn are the main ingredients in many, many, many everyday items I do not think most Americans are aware of; we can do better. I have been personally hit by this fuel and food crisis as I just retired from my state job to be able to visit my grandkids and relatives and peruse our family tree and to get a break. I joined the U.S. Navy in 1963 when I was seventeen and have been going like hell ever since. I was medically retired from the US Navy with a medical discharge and VA disability. I am now one of the folks on a fixed income, and these prices did not appear on the horizon when the plans to retire were made. I am not sure how this will affect the big picture, but I do know I cannot travel as I had planned, and that is sad for the whole family. I have folks from Wisconsin to all the states in the Northwest to California. I did a short trip to Winnemucca, Nevada, from Boise, Idaho, for a softball game my granddaughter was in; round trip gas was $225 for my camper; it used to be $50. Where will it stop? I thank you for your letter and please put pressure on whoever is in the way to immediate progress to get out of the way. Remember the Manhattan Project and the first moon shot; it CAN be done. Hal, Boise. ____ My husband is a logger and, because of the high price of gas, he has been off from work for six months. I wish every Congressman had to live on the same amount of money a week that we have tried to live on $300. We only go into town once every 8 to 10 days, and when we do go to town, we never go anywhere that is not on our list. Last month it cost us over $100 just to go into town four times. It [seems that Congress doesn't have] regard for the working man's life. [Perhaps] they should [try living the same way] we do and I am sure their outlook on our future would be different. We need to drill for oil in our own country and then do not let the gas companies sell the oil to other countries. It is time for a change and please let the change start soon. Ruby. ____ I do not like the high gas prices, but what I detest is that, for years, it seems that many have preferred to posture and bicker about drilling/not drilling for oil, expanding/ limiting refinery growth, paying lip service to yet-to-be- available alternative energy sources, and demonizing the oil companies rather than making adult, farsighted decisions about our energy needs and creating a responsible policy to meet our needs. The same actions that could have--and should have--been taken 10, 15, 20 years ago to put us in a better place today are still being proposed today and ignored again, often by the same people who made the faulty decisions about them originally. It is something that wouldn't be tolerated in the private sector, where leadership would have been fired long ago for such incompetence. Congress needs to put the energy needs and associated security aspects of our country first and take prompt, forceful action or have the decency to get out of the way for someone who will. If we are not currently knowledgeable enough or committed enough to quickly develop a full-blown, workable energy policy, here's a temporary policy until we do: Drilling may not be the answer, but it is what we need to do while we discover or develop the answer. Spread the word, Senator, and leave behind the short-term thinking of the past! Gregory. ____ The fuel prices are totally out of control. My husband and I run a charter fishing business, which means we have to use hundreds of gallons of fuel every day. The most disappointing part of the whole process is that the government could change things in a heartbeat. I am tired of hearing that car manufacturers have until 2015 to come up with vehicles which will be improved to give around 35 miles per gallon. That is the way the government tries to ``ease'' the citizens' concerns of skyrocketing fuel prices and allay fears of global warming. Right now, as I type this, there is a solution to the problem, an almost immediate solution, and I know there is not only one of them out there. One gentleman in Idaho has invented a carburetor which can be used on any type of vehicle and will increase fuel efficiency to around 70 miles to the gallon. So why, I ask with tears in my eyes, does the government [[Page 16203]] not take a stand and mass produce the carburetors? Is not that a novel idea. . . . . imagine what effect that would have on the demand for fuel and therefore the quantity of fuel we would need to purchase from price gougers? The USA can put people on the moon but coming up with fuel efficient transportation is just way beyond their scope of capabilities. Why not take a stand and insist on an immediate improvement in fuel efficiency standards? That would at least be a start. Maybe it wouldn't solve our demand for fuel but it might cut the demand in half. What about this story below--that explains how the government manipulates the public--it is a joke: Ron Brandt: 90 MPG Carburetor--Ron Brandt is the inventor of the perm-mag motor. He is of retirement age. When he was a young man, he invented a 90-mpg carburetor. He was paid a visit by a man from Standard Oil, another man, and two men wearing U.S. Marshal uniforms. They told him that if he ever made another carburetor, they would kill him, his wife, and two young children. He was quickly persuaded that his life wasn't worth a ``damn'' carburetor. He happened to think to memorize the badge numbers of the two U.S. Marshals, and so had an attorney in Washington, DC check with the U.S. Marshal's office. They had no record of the two badge numbers. Rene. ____ I normally go to Colorado to get my grandchildren for the summer; however, this year I have had to put it off for a while. Because my parents are both in their late 80s and my mother had cancer last year, I go to Florida every year around Thanksgiving. Having to save more for airline tickets means I do not have money for the local trips I normally take during the summer. I have even had to curtail my fishing. I have had to stop or go less often to my various camping spots. We generally have a family get together, but we are not this year because of the expense some would experience in traveling here. In short, we are traveling less, going less distance when we do travel and spending less at hotels and restaurants, but we are seeing less of our extended family. Sheila. ____ I am not surprised by the ``high'' prices for fuel. Most of Europe has paid these prices for years; when I was in Germany in the mid-80s the price was about $4/gallon. We have kept the fuel prices artificially low here in the U.S. for various reasons. This has led to waste (Hummers, Escalades, etc.) and disincentive for change/improvements in our fuel/ transportation situation. I am happy to see the prices climb, as this will force conservation, alternative energy types and improvements in fuel mileage, etc. We declared that this situation would never occur again in the early 70s with the OPEC slowdown on oil production--seems that our collective memories are rather short. Gustaf, Moscow. ____ All of my family is being hit very hard by the gas prices. I do not understand why anyone would stand against us drilling oil on our own land and/or working towards any type of energy that would make us self-sufficient against our enemies. I am ready to drill here in the U.S. Please support us. Another question: why, if we are spending billions of dollars supporting and rebuilding IRAQ, are we not getting some of their oil? Cindi. ____ As soon as the price of fossil fuels, and the electorate's reaction to it, drives the political will in Washington and the rest of the world's capitals to get serious about making policy that threatens to bring about the conversion of our energy paradigm to self-renewing, non polluting, less profitable energy sources, which are available, simple, plentiful and inexhaustible, look for oil to drop to $30 and gasoline prices to drop back below $2/gallon. Through long experience, those who put profits above the health and well- being of future generations have learned how to milk the most possible money out of the market without killing the milk cow. The reason [some have] always been opposed to the REAL emphasis on self-renewing energy technologies that is needed to help those burgeoning industries get a level playing field with the fossil fuels powerhouses is that they are [financially connected to the oil, gas and coal industries. Recent presidential administrations have not set an example, regardless of the party affiliation of the president.] And THAT, Senator, is why you now have a special email address for remarks about fossil fuel prices. Thanks for your concern. Wish it had come many years earlier! William, Tetonia. ____ Thank you for your email information on your stand on the economy and its ever- increasing price increases. I am a business owner and self employed. I care for two adult handicapped women and I am a co-partner in our painting business with my husband. We know that the increase of one major product strongly affects all products and services, specifically oil and electricity. I grew up in Alaska, and lived there for 18 years, especially at the time the Alaska Pipeline was put in place. My husband worked in the oil fields of Wyoming in the early 1980s. We have personally seen the expansion and development of natural resources. We now reside in Eastern Idaho. We have seen the increased use of wind towers to generate wind electricity. Knowing the days of wind compared to the days of no wind in Eastern Idaho, we appreciate the justification of tapping this source of energy. I have seen inventions that create more economical use of the gasoline powered vehicles, and then the invention is halted, or made to disappear, because it gets people too good gas mileage. Hydro engines are an example, and gasoline engines that get 50 or more miles to the gallon. I witnessed the electrical price increases every year for the last 15 years. While the average citizen just has to sit by and take it, I think it is criminal how those who govern the sources of electricity and oil consider their resources a priceless commodity, and are encouraged to increase the price of them at a drop of a suggestion. It is interesting how we create the need and dependency for electricity and oil, only to have created a destructive power to control the price and supply of the need. Sometimes I consider the foresight of our forefathers recognizing the impact that greed and pride which puts one's value above another, how this concept seems to be the ever- increasing normal opinion of controlling business, and how they can take advantage of those who contribute to their wealth. I believe the answers are already there, the solutions of resource and need have already been developed, but the pride of those who control outweighs the circumstance of financial availability for the everyday person. It is great to acknowledge that gas prices went ridiculously high, but the reasons for them are at best made to protect those who imposed the increases. I am constantly reminded of the gas shortage of the late 1970s. People lined up, only being allowed to purchase a few dollars of gas to get to work. The biggest pretense for the reasoning power behind this was to increase gas prices; there was NO shortage then, there is NO shortage now. Those who have seen and know the process of control understand how a little information is necessary, but the full puzzle pieces kept from being put in place can create loopholes and safety nets for those in the controlling power of supply and demand. The public of America does not know the amount of capped off and reserved oil wells drilled 20, 30 or more years ago, here in America. We, as a public, are not informed as to the actual amount of oil that truly goes out of Alaska. One could surmise to the extent, because of the `dividend' cash given to its residents for over 20 years now. America's, Idaho citizens see what is really going on; we have just been conditioned to have the feeling we have no power or say in how it goes in our favor. We have been taught by the public system that government and its process are left to elected officials; that supply and demand concepts are in the control of those with the most material wealth and power. If our elected officials really want to help make a difference, then say what needs to be done and the process to make it happen. The power of wealth may be strong, but the power of numbers may overturn that philosophy one day. History repeats itself often. America became America because a repressed people sought to be free of ``tyranny.'' It is a process of greed and power that creates tyranny, and so the process will continue until the greed and power of those who impose it on others cease. I appreciate your time in hearing my thoughts on the matter. Sincerely, Annette. ____ We are on fixed income (retired). Our annual income is about $50,000. All our vehicles are debt-free, but they are 1999 models. Our car gets 31 mpg, and the pickup gets 16 mpg. We cannot afford to buy new more energy-efficient vehicles, so if the auto industry suddenly produces a car that gets 40 mpg, we cannot afford to buy it. We have family in Denver and Alaska. We had planned to travel to both places periodically, but cannot due to the energy prices. We do not have a choice to buy our gas at a reduction in that all the stations in our town are basically at the same rate per gallon (price fixing??). Our house cost and household energy costs are rather stable at this time so the excess funds needed for gas/diesel has to be taken from our grocery bill and optional health care elections that we may need. The rhetoric about how Congress is going to fix matters--it is not as simple as waving a magic wand. Nothing I have heard thus far is immediate unless our Middle East ``friends'' decide to be compassionate toward a country that has volunteered to free them from the enslaving control of dictators. We need immediate relief . . . not platitudes about ``plans on the horizon.'' Unfortunately, no one has made long range energy plans and now we are paying for it. Congress has succumbed to the environmentalists and has forgotten ``Joe Average Citizen.'' This is my opinion, but nevertheless is true. Robert, Idaho Falls. [[Page 16204]] ____________________