Crapo calls for diverse energy policy

SANDPOINT — America has a tough road ahead when it comes to federal transportation funding and sorting out the country’s energy woes, U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo said last week.

Crapo said reauthorization of the federal transportation funding bill is pending, but its passage is likely to be dogged by a familiar debate that donor states are getting too little money while beneficiary states such as Idaho are getting too much.

“We will have a bit of a battle,” Crapo said when he addressed the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.

Crapo also anticipates another debate will re-emerge when the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act is re-upped: whether to use the transportation trust fund money to pay for highway projects or allow Congress to “rob” it.

But most of the Idaho Republican’s remarks centered on the country’s gas pains, which are being played out against a backdrop of vicious personal and partisan politics as races for control of the House, Senate and White House heat up.

“The energy issues, by far, are the most significant issues on the domestic front,” he said.

Earlier this year, Crapo invited Idahoans to share stories with him about how the high cost of gasoline was affecting their lives. More than 1,200 people responded and many blamed Congress for the problem.

Crapo described blaming Congress as something of a national pastime that is sometimes misdirected.

But on energy issues, Crapo said the blame is well-placed.

“In this case, it is Congress’s fault,” he said.

Crapo said very little has been done to develop a diverse and comprehensive energy policy. The country needs to be less dependent upon foreign petroleum reserves, which Crapo estimated was pumping $500-$700 billion a year into economies outside the country.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is failing to utilize its oil-production prowess by limiting offshore drilling, failing to drill in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and tap shale oil deposits, Crapo said.

“We have hundreds of years of current consumption rates in shale oil,” he said.

Crapo also stumped for using nuclear power to augment the country’s energy capabilities and said more research needs to be done to develop alternative energies.

“We put a man on the moon. We can do the same thing with energy,” Crapo said.