Your Energy Stories

I asked, and you answered--by the hundreds. In an effort to personalize the energy crisis, I asked Idahoans to share how high energy prices are affecting their lives. And the response was immediate and overwhelming! More than 600 stories came into energy_prices@crapo.senate.gov within the first 24 hours. The total now stands are well over 1,200. Each day the U.S. Senate is in session, I am submitting between ten and fifteen to the Congressional Record. Please note that some of the e-mails have been edited to conform to the requirements for submission to the Congressional Record. These are the stories I submitted on December 10, 2008. To date, more than 500 stories from Idahoans have been shared. The Senate is now in recess until mid-November, so I cannot submit additional stories until the Senate is back in session.

This in response to your request for stories from Idaho citizens about the impact of rising gas prices on our lives. We are fortunate in that, though the increased prices are a drain, they do not put us in financial jeopardy. However, we are taking steps to decrease our use of gasoline. We both have bicycles and have started using them to run some of our errands, visit friends and, on occasion, travel to and from work. We consolidate errands to avoid multiple trips. When driving I avoid quick stops and starts and get off the gas when on a down slope. If I use a drive up and will have to wait, I turn off the engine. We never let our vehicles idle in cold weather to warm up. This is a waste that is endemic in Idaho.

As regards for suggestions for ways the government can help, I agree with supporting alternative energy sources; however, I do not see how nuclear energy will offset gasoline use. My understanding is that part of our problem is lack of sufficient numbers or modern refineries. With the oil companies enjoying record profits, they should be dealing with this issue. It does not make sense to me for the taxpayer to foot the bill for this. More can be done to support development of non-food sources of ethanol, e.g. switch grass and other non-food plants; and waste products from wood products industries and crop waste such as corn and other grain stalks. Support is needed for development of better public transportation such as buses and light rail. Use of roundabouts instead of signals or stop signs at intersections will also consume less fuel and produce less pollution. I am not sure how you provide incentives to people for conserving energy in their driving practices but anything that can educate people about how to conserve would probably be useful. One positive about the high cost of gasoline is that people are finally thinking about how they can conserve. Gas has been so cheap that we have been very careless in our usage and neither the populace nor the government has had much incentive to conserve through driving practices, design of vehicles or development and use of public transportation. I love the convenience of my car but I think all of us are going to have to look at some lifestyle changes if we want to decrease our dependence on foreign oil.

Thank you for soliciting input from your constituents.

Faye, Boise.

Energy costs have taken it is toll in our household. Both my husband and I have gotten second jobs part time just to make ends meet. If it were just the hike in energy costs we would have to say to ourselves grin and bear it. But everything across the board has increased.

Soaring food prices: What was an average of $70 per week has now increased to $140-$150 per week. And it is increasing each week. Standard monthly bills have increased by at least $3 per month. It might not seem much of an increase but there again, across-the-board monthly increases add up over the months.

We have definitely changed our life styles. No dining out. We drive only when we have to. And when we do have to go out, we make sure we do everything we have to do in one trip. We make sure lights are turned off when not in use, and we refrain from using the air conditioner. Laundry day is now only twice a week. We try to BBQ as much as possible so we can save by not using our gas range.

We have never seen things as bad as they are today. We do not except any hands-outs from our government, but there are millions of people who are suffering right now and were afraid millions more to follow.

Where is the government in all of this? Why cannot government solve these problems? We Americans pay taxes, but it would seem our tax money is being mismanaged. It is plain to see this government does not have its peoples’ best interest at heart. Congress does not have their priories straight. Energy and the economy should come first! Without middle-class Americans, where will the government be? Sad as it is, middle-class America is fading!

Government (Congress) needs to stop discussing the problems and start taking action now. Wind power, nuclear power, with all the hi-tech advantage this nation holds, they cannot find a way? Stop playing the blame games and work together to solve these and many other problems.

The Marshalls, Meridian.

We are a small family living what we consider to be a decent life in a rural Idaho community. The increasing gas prices have affected the costs of other things, such as groceries, to increase in price as well. In an effort to keep the added costs from impacting our standard of living too much we have taken a few steps, such as:

Attending church closer to home.
Limiting shopping trips to a bare minimum.
Watering lawns less, so that it will grow less, requiring less mowing.
Driving a 40mpg car, when we'd rather run something more comfortable and safer.
Passing on taking trips to see family; our nearest family members are 350 miles away.
Buying things locally, as opposed to shopping at places like Costco since the cost of a trip to Costco down by Boise is very costly.
Buying a whole beef, as opposed to supermarket cuts, saving a couple of dollars per pound, depending upon the cut.
Buying items in bulk, including flour, detergents, etc.
Baking our own brownies, cookies, rolls, and breads. The cost of grain products has gone very high, and bakery products have increased substantially.
Making sourdough waffles & pancakes to save on the cost of pancake flour.
Making our own ice cream.
Making our own fruit rollups.
Foregoing physicians visits as much as absolutely possible, passing on new eyeglasses.
Taking Benadryl as opposed to prescription allergy meds, even though the Benadryl makes us drowsy and does not work as well - the cost is much lower.
Making our own pastas.
Making homemade salads as opposed to buying deli salads.
Doing our own haircuts, hair coloring, and perms at home, using home products, instead of going to the salon or barber shop.
Quit dining out, all meals can come from home - this includes packing lunches.
Mowing our lawn ourselves, instead of hiring a neighborhood boy to do it for us.
Giving up "date night", and movies, both in theater and rental movies.
Staying home more.
Changing our son to a less-expensive day care.

If things get worse we will have to look at other things, such as:

Growing a garden, and canning/freezing fruits & veggies.
Putting in several fruit trees.
Buying a whole pork, instead of retail cuts.
Fishing to put in freezer for future meals.
Raising chickens, both for eggs and meat
Sewing some of our own clothing items.
Walking to work - a round trip including daycare is about 4.5 mile

These higher costs have us very concerned; something must be done to bring things back into balance.

If many other people adopt habits like we have, and are considering, there will be a ripple through effect of job loss. We are spending less in the grocery store, less from the butcher, less with diners, delis, movie rental places, theaters, the bakery, barber shop and beauty shop, just to mention a few. We are also buying fewer ready to eat or cook with products, and are making our foods from scratch.

If we start actually growing and raising our own foods the effects will ripple through the economy as well - especially if lots of other people feel the need to do the same.

We are not living in "pioneer" times, but we may have to live like we are if prices continue to spiral out of control. Going into debt just to cover daily living expenses is simply not an option.

Please encourage your fellow members of Congress to require the development of domestic oil.

Furthermore, please press a mandate on the production of hydrogen fueled vehicles, with the availability of fueling sources mandated as well. We need to be getting ourselves weaned off of the fossil fuels - since they cannot possibly last forever.

Sharene, Weiser.

Four of us are employed at Grounds Maintenance Equipment, Inc. in Boise, by the fairgrounds. We all live in Emmett. Three commute together. Last week we all shifted to a 10-hour, four-day week, because the commuting costs (gasoline) left us no choice.

There is no quick solution. It seems that the Left cannot do more than one thing at a time. They cannot promote conservation - a worthy enterprise - and consider drilling, in the same year. It is my opinion that there is a long-term agenda being promoted by the Dems to turn America into a socialist dictatorship. I cannot envision any other reason they do what they do.

Mel and Rosie, Emmett.

Thanks for the email. You are completely correct--high gas prices are making things difficult. Although, gas is only one of the many things that are getting more and more expensive. Food costs are going through the roof. The only thing that is not rising fast is, unfortunately, our wages. I would like to see our leadership make a real effort to raise wages to a livable level. A livable wage in Idaho is like $10 something per hour, higher in counties like Ada and Blaine.

Unfortunately, I believe your policy solutions are sadly misguided. Domestic drilling will not significantly reduce prices for the consumer. Nuclear energy is among the most expensive ways to produce energy. It relies on taxpayer dollars to make it economically viable. And both are terrible for the environment. I hope you take the time to reassess these policies.

Doug.

My husband and I live very frugally. Due to his brain injury, we have to wait incredible lumps of time for Social Security Disability appeal. He and I are in agreement that the "energy crisis" is a social agenda of the green movement that has been in place for decades.

With that said, we are in favor of nuclear energy that is a proven benefit and drilling for our domestic oil. Often the legislators and others opposed to such drilling say it would be too long to build refineries to find relief. I believe that the American people would be patient with the time it takes to build them and be willing to suffer the gas prices knowing we had hope to sustain our own oil provisions and not be dependent on foreign oil.

Yvonne and Mark, Meridian.

Thank you for inviting our comments on this problem. My wife and I retired in 2003 with a financial plan that made a lot of sense: we sold our home and bought a motor home, which we used for two years to see some of these great United States. Then we lived in it in Emmett while building our retirement home here. We cleaned up the motor home to sell it, which was an integral part of our plan because the payments on it were $1200 per month.

You probably guessed the rest of the story. We have a large mortgage on our new house and our investments have performed less well than we might have hoped. But the biggest problem we have is that in a year and a half we have not had a single offer on our motor home. Friends tell us we will not be able to sell it. We took it to Bretz RV in Missoula, MT, one of the leading sellers of RVs including consignment sales. That was last August. We have dropped the price below what we owe on it and still cannot get any offers. The price of diesel is what is causing the market for motor homes to dry up. In short, our retirement cash flow is in trouble due to fuel prices, not to mention our costs have skyrocketed.

We are thoroughly disillusioned by our government's refusal to tell the environmentalists to go pound sand and let our oil companies develop the enormous oil and natural gas reserves we have, while competitor nations drill for our right off our shores. The "pristine parkland" in ANWR is a hoax--we have seen pictures of the small area where drilling rights were sought. We need nuclear power plants to be built as quickly as possible, oil refineries as quickly as possible, and the development of those resources.

Yes, alternative energy sources are a good thing, and we need eventually to phase out the gasoline auto, but this takes time. The government is responsible for our predicament, in our opinion, and needs to start putting the needs of America ahead of politics.

Tim and Peggy, Emmett.

Thank you for giving us an opportunity to share our story with you. We are most definitely feeling the effects of the ever-increasing costs of fuel. We are a family of six. We own three cars and have four drivers. Our college-age daughter chose a summer job that was close to home just so she can save on gas money. We have been discussing how we will make ends meet with the rising fuel costs. We have decided to pull our youngest children (ages 11 and 13) out of piano lessons. They were in their 3rd and 5th year respectively. Our daughter, Katie, may have to give up flute lessons. Katie has been volunteering at St. Luke's Hospital for the past two years. She was hoping to volunteer there through her senior year of high school, but it may soon cost too much to get her there and back. Our son is volunteering at the Garden City Library. He is enjoying it, but we are uncertain how long he will be able to participate once again because the amount it costs us to get him there. We are a family that believes in volunteering and giving of our time and resources - but there is only so much we can do. We have recently switched to a doctor in Eagle just so we would not have to travel into downtown Boise. We evaluate every time we plan to go somewhere - can we really afford the gas? We have even denied our kids the opportunity to go to mid-week youth group at church because it is in Southeast Boise - too far to drive. We feel badly for the other families/organizations our decisions will affect - two moms who give piano/flute lessons from their homes, the volunteer office at St. Luke's, the library, etc. We do not have the luxury of buying newer more fuel-efficient cars; we must do with what we have.

We are extremely frustrated with Congress over its inability to do anything constructive to solve the problem, which for the most part they are responsible for causing. We support drilling for our own oil both offshore and in ANWR. We support building more refineries. We also fully support the expansion of our nuclear energy facilities, mining of coal and oil shale in addition to renewable forms of energy such as wind and solar. More hearings and investigations on "Big Oil" and speculators is a waste of time along with taxing "windfall profits". Pleases urge your peers to do something constructive to solve the problem.

Thanks again for this opportunity.

Kelly and Kristi, Eagle.

I work at the INL but commute 45 minutes both ways to work; my husband also works in Idaho Falls. However, we work at different times -- my work begins at 7:00 and off at 4:30. He starts at 10 and off at 6 -- so we both drive. At the present time, we are considering selling our home of 35 years and moving closer to Idaho Falls. We are spending over $110 a week with the two cars making the trip to Idaho Falls five times a week. I have started a car pool with a few employees that will help some, but the fact is --- it hurts. For the first time in many years, we are finding ourselves in financial distress.

We do not want to sell the house, we have raised our kids there -- we love it. And, we do not want to sell it at this time when the market is such that we will not get from it what it is worth.

There has to be a better way. I hope you can find it. Good luck.

Unsigned.

We should not lean on foreign oil provider's to lower their prices when we have enough oil under American soil to last for hundreds of years. The so called environmentalists have caused this massive problem which has the possibility to sink America.

I like the scene of oil rigs on the horizon, it is a beautiful landscape. I do not believe the so-called environmentalists care one whit about our environment, they are out to see America die, and they are well on their way to accomplishing their goal.

A word to the wise.

Curt, Wilder.

As a country, we had plenty of time to both prepare for and possibly prevent the situation we are in. However, we cannot change the past and now we are going to march into a new and different world. I wonder whether we will be smarter this time.

Frankly, I see the silver lining in the increased cost of energy. We are going to have to incentivize the discovery and use of new, sustainable forms of energy. Maybe we'll think long term instead of searching for the short term fixes.

We will get a chance to pay more attention to our local communities rather than driving away for fun or shipping produce (and water!) from the other side of the planet. We will get a glimpse of how a large part of the rest of the world lives. We'll start appreciating and caring for what we have rather than strive for ever increasing heights of consumption. We'll ride bikes, fix sidewalks, meet neighbors and save our energy use for when using energy is really necessary. Maybe we'll even revisit one of the most taboo of subjects - whether we should curb population growth. (Just think - 1/100th the population means 100 times the resources.)

So, there you have it. The energy "crisis" is of our own making. We had our chances, but maybe now we'll pay attention. The question is whether the transition to a world of scarcity will be peaceful or turbulent. In times of stress, those with the most resources are often the least affected, yet they often control positions of leadership.
By the way... if you thought an energy shortage was a big thing, wait till the water crisis hits. It is going to be a lot worse.

George, Idaho Falls.

To search the Congressional Record for the energy stories that have already been submitted, please go to the Congressional Record search link. Select Crapo, Mike (R-ID) in the dropdown menu, and check Senate under Section of Congressional Record. Under the date, enter 06/18/2008 to the present date. Click the search button at the bottom of the screen. All of the submissions will be retrieved; they are all titled IDAHOANS SPEAK OUT ON HIGH ENERGY PRICES.

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