Thursday January 29, 2009
Your Energy Stories
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Listen to Mike on various energy issuesI 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 January 26, 2009. To date, more than 600 stories from Idahoans have been shared.
Hi Mr. Crapo,
Thanks for inviting me to drop you a line on the GASOLINE FARCE . . .
In 2005 I was forced from my job with Alaska Airlines at age 60 with no explanation other than "we can do what we want without explaining to you why." That stopped my income - cold. Since then Donna and I have moved in with Donna's aging and widowed mother and have been able to care for her, while at the same time not having to make a house payment. Nobody but Walmart will hire a guy my age with my particular qualifications. So I still have no job. Fortunately we have no bills. We were making it OK drawing my Social Security early and making ends meet ...until this gas thing - that was then - this is now.
Just this Monday, I filled my tank with 81 octane rating and 16 gallons cost me $65! The net result is that I now drink water instead of milk, I no longer can afford my vitamins, we cannot afford the better whole wheat bread but buy wonder bread because it's cheaper. (I quit eating bread so I guess that's not all bad!), cut back on eggs, buy 75% fat free hamburger rather than the 90% stuff at Winco. I had to cancel a Doctor's appointment for my blood pressure check because I have no insurance and ran out of money. Should I go on?
In short this gas thing is making life difficult! I cannot figure out why the Democrats are so obtuse. We cannot drill here because of some patch of slippery grass or there because we might melt the polar ice cap out from under some bear. Who cares about that stuff in this critical time anyhow? This is all really easy to figure out: Drill here, Drill now, and to blazes with the frog lickkers and tree huggers. It is because of them and their ilk that we have not built any new refineries or opened any new drilling fields in the past 30 plus years. Gee, I wonder how much we would be paying for our own gasoline drilled from our own wells and refined in our own refineries? I am not an educated man but I think I have got a handle on this. What is the matter with all your buddies in Congress?
Why is it that everybody else on God's Green Earth is drilling where ever they need (and want to) and we continue to buy oil from people who'd just as soon kill us as look at us. You know what? We have some of the largest oil reserves on Earth and we let some team of morons who think the bears and the slippery grass are more important than me, stop us from drilling in our own back yard? - I don't think so. I haven't slipped on any endangered grass or seen a polar bear face to face except in the zoo - and I do not expect I will in what remains in my life time. But I do have grandkids who don't live close by. What is more important than me seeing my grandkids down in Poky or Ogden? Bears or grass? No siree! I would sure like to be able to afford to go see my grandkids when they say "Gramp will you come and play with me?" - and I now cannot - because nobody with the horsepower will face down that bunch of friends of earth and the Audobon Society and stop this insanity?!?!
I have a sweet little 3 year old granddaughter who cries because her Grandma tells her she cannot afford to come see her. Now THAT DARN NEAR TEARS MY HEART OUT!!!
Curtis Maughan.
We have owned and operated an electrical contracting business for 21 years and presently employ 18 people in the Treasure Valley. Like many, we feel our economy is in crisis, mostly fueled by the price of energy.
The prices of steel, copper, plastics and fuel all drive the cost of our end product up to the consumer. We believe we are reaching the tipping point where the consumer will simply have to make the choice between food/fuel or services such as we provide and that means the loss of jobs and income to families supported by businesses such as ours (for example - our employees, suppliers, other subcontractors, and other small businesses that support us). Two years ago our monthly fuel bill was $1,200.00. Today our monthly fuel bill is over $2,500.00. We can only absorb so many increases before we can no longer afford to do business.
Our society was built on free enterprise and the inaction of our government to address the energy needs of the country crushes our ability to produce and contribute to the economy. The government has too long tried to appease special interests. For our government to shackle us to dependency on foreign energy when we have everything we need right here is a disservice to the people. We can pursue our own resources with negligible impact on our environment. We must go forward with the pursuit of energy independence, both green and fossil fuels. Free up Anwar, the Atlantic shelf, the Gulf and our natural gas. The government should aggressively subsidize solar, wind and other alternative energy options for the consumer.
The statement was made by Senator Obama that there is no immediate solution for high gas prices but when do we start? If we had started eight years ago we would be closer. We must begin NOW. If this does not change our lives in this country will be irreversibly damaged. As Americans we are being forced to sell pieces of our country to foreign interests in order to survive. This is not the American way. The actions of our government are giving our country away. If this continues, who will we be in ten years? What will be left of our distinct way of life? We Americans are unique in how we live. We choose to pursue happiness and independence and that pursuit has been good for the world, and yet the world criticizes us for having the freedom to do this and would like nothing more than to chain us to their ideals. If our quest for the American dream is smothered by the demands of the world then Democracy dies here and all the sacrifices of the generations before us are lost.
Please do all you can at the federal level to persuade the rest of Congress to secure our energy and our economy.
Alan & Cathleen Lusk.
I wish I could just limit my story to just one. I could go on for days about the way the high energy prices are affecting me and my family here in Idaho. I will cite a few for your information.
Heating costs - Just last week, Jun 14th, we had yet another snow storm - That makes 8 months of snow here in Idaho. But with that it means my home was being heated by Off-Road Diesel again. When I bought this house I was paying $0.95 a gallon for fuel to heat my home for my wife, four kids, and police K-9. Through the last few years I have seen a very large increase in the cost to keep it very cold to just get by. I have had my home insulated and weatherized. I am the low income American. I worked hard to get off of state programs and CHIP. Now it seems that was done for no reason. I still make too much money for aid programs, but now I will have to give up these items I worked hard to get and get off of state programs. I got the American dream just to be priced back out of it. I now spend $1400+ to fill my heating oil tank. As you know natural gas is not up here in Cascade. It is cheaper than oil, but we cannot get it. So I had to make a choice, health insurance or heating my home. I chose to keep my family warm. So now I pray no one gets sick or hurt. When I say warm I mean 64 degrees. I am not sure if you know what that feels like, but it is very cold during the winter. In the summer you would say that your AC was great.
Grocery Costs - Here is another area that has seen large price hikes to deal with the cost of transporting food. We live in Cascade and well it costs more to get food to us up here than in Boise. It is nothing new to spend a few more $ on something that is cheaper in Boise. In the last two years milk has gone up over $1.50 a gallon. Eggs almost a $1.00 too. Everything that I consider a must-have item has gone up and up. Know what? My pay has gone down in the same time frame. A slow economy means less hours of work and that means less money in my paycheck. I would not presume to complain to you over the cost of steak and lobster or stuff like that. I cannot remember what a steak taste like and what color is lobster again? I am talking about the things you cannot skimp on here: Milk for my four kids.
These higher energy costs are affecting everything that we buy. Because of that, we are having to make choices about what we spend our money on. You can use any inflation score you want, I believe they were set up to have numbers say whatever you want them to say. Like the four out of five doctors line. The proof is in the pudding. The inflation where the metal meets the meat is double digit. We are making choices that people who make six figures a year would never believe. We went from middle class to no class. Every penny at the pump means another though choice at the dinner table. We have to drive to go to work to keep the lights on. There is no choice. We have no buses, no subway, and I don't own a horse. So I get up and get in my American Made truck and drive to a pump where a company who posts record profits but says they are not making any money, gouges me. They should just stand there with a gun and rob me, at least I would feel like I was treated like a man. They would be up front and in my face. No, instead they hide behind Congressmen and a president they have bought with campaign cash.
The more and more I think about this as I write it, the more and more I think the system is broke. We cry out to our elected people in Washington for help. There is a lot of good talk about how they are going to help us, but nothing ever happens. We spend too much money on nothing getting done. If we were running Washington DC like a business we would be bankrupt.
Mike, I am not attacking you, I support you. You won me over when you came to my town when Boise Cascade left. But I feel you are a working man in a land of people that believe we are here so they can serve in Congress. I believe you know you are there because we put you there. I hope and pray you can find a solution to this madness. The fix has to come now not next year. Smaller countries set the fuel price and they pick up the difference. This is how the economy in those countries is not failing. When Ma Bell got too big you all regulated them. When the cable company got too big you regulated them. When the electric company got too big you regulated them. Where is the regulation on the oil companies? They have shown time and time again that they cannot police their own activities. They will root around in your pockets while you are filling up your car just to take the last bit of cash you have. Americans have more debt now than ever. I know I was debt free three years ago. Now, I am strapped. On the edge of losing it all. I don't have a flat screen TV, no gold silverware. Nothing big and new. Just trying to get by. Putting milk on a credit card. What are we to do? People say we are going to pull out of this soon. I say we will only pull out of this when the energy prices go down. How can anyone but big oil make any more money to pay its employees more money? They cannot, so if I cannot get paid more, then the costs have to go down for me to have more.
Just my thoughts
Jason Speer, Cascade.
This may be late, however, I still think you should know my story. I am sure it is not much different from many others across our state or America.
I own a small cleanup business that services new construction job sites. I started the business just over six years ago. I drive anywhere between 100 to 150 miles a day -- most of which is miles driving to and from the Ada County landfill (2 to 3 trips a day). I am easily putting $50+ a day of fuel into my truck. I drive a Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD pulling a dump bed trailer. Basically, I am going through a lot of fuel. The prices are up considerably from a year ago. With the continued rise of fuel, I am given two choices. 1) Ask my builders for more money to pay for the fuel, or 2) Quit my business. Both choices will have a chain reaction in how it affects my life (well-being). My builders will complain. Some will understand and be willing to pay more, others will not want my business because my prices are too high. If I quit my business, I will then have to find other means of income for my family. Six plus years of building a business is a hard thing to give up on. The housing industry in Idaho is not very good right now and with the low amount of work, it affects my income. I currently am making just enough to meet costs. With the addition of high fuel costs it hits me twice as hard.
I do not know what the right answer is to make things better. Off shore drilling for the United States will not have an effect for many years. The people of Idaho and elsewhere need help now. I do not know much about law or the principles of supply and demand -- but it would sure be nice if the government could somehow make a drastic cut in fuel prices. I too would like to take vacations around the state or to Utah to see family. This past weekend it cost $110.00 for my family to make a round trip to Salt Lake City from Nampa. We have a Honda Accord. It is will most likely be the only trip we take for the rest of the year.
Sorry for all the mistakes in my writing. I have so much on my mind when it comes to my family's well-being, my business, and fuel prices.
I'd be happy to share more information.
Jonathan Plummer, Nampa.
Hello Mike, if you want the answer, here it is. I have traveled this nation throughout my life. I know that from Alaska to California there are thousands of oil wells that sit idle, not pumping at all, at current use over a 150 years of oil in the ground, already drilled no exploration needed, no problems with environmentalists, that is not to mention the millions of gallons of oil that is pumped from the Alaska pipe line directly on to tankers only to leave our country (USA) to be sold to BP or some other company. The Alaska pipeline in the 70's was promised to the American people (one-third of the oil pumped out of the ground in Alaska is pumped back into the ground because the line can't handle it).vNow to talk about refineries, the American people have been told we do not have any refineries, we have them in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, California ..... four of the major oil companies in the USA are held by one holding company, the last I heard, what they are doing is called price fixing (which is against the law, remember the breakup of Microsoft?). Our government chooses to buy our oil from terrorists, only to support further war, help to build indoor ski resorts (in the desert) and manmade islands some of the largest construction projects ever attempted, at the expense of the American people and our economy. When will we stand up for ourselves? "Even China has." We need to use our own oil (reserves) say no more to the oil companies (break them up like in the 1900s) take control for our country and not let big business run it. "Regardless of greed" this is our country and our economy. If the economy fails, what good is money (we are on reserve note not gold standard)? Is not our government supposed to be BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE? I can show a direct correlation between the down turn in the economy and fuel prices. Our soldiers are in the Middle East fighting a war we cannot win, and the Terrorists are winning the 911 war by destroying our core (economy) by controlling the cost of our energy (fuel) AND WE JUST SIT IDLE. Our government says, in part, it is because we need to go green, but autos are less than 10 percent of the problem.......
Here it is:
Use our reserves (oil in our ground).
Give the Alaska pipe line back to the people.
Take our pocket book out of it (political investors).
Tell OPEC what we will pay (not what they will have us pay).
Break up the oil companies (price fixing is against the law).
Let the Middle East take care of themselves. The only value they have is the value the world puts on them. If they are worth nothing then they are nothing.
Brazil is 100 percent self sufficient and fuel is less than $1.50 a gallon
We need to stand up and say no, we will use our own oil, you would be amazed how fast the prices would drop, but we would still need to say no, so we can control it and keep control of it (in our country anyway).
OF THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE WE ARE THE U S A.
Richard Stephens, Caldwell.
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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