Dear Senator Craig:

As Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, you are a proven fighter for seniors. Accordingly, I’d like to bring to your attention legislation that, if enacted, would be very detrimental to the elderly.

We are very much opposed to S 139, the Climate Stewardship Act, which seeks to do by statue much of what the discredited Kyoto Protocol would have done by treaty. (The Kyoto Protocol was rejected by you and your Senate colleagues in 1997 by a 95-0 vote.) S 139 would seriously add to the costs of both electricity and gasoline for seniors and others on a fixed income.

According to a June 2003 report by the Energy Information Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy, this legislation would increase electricity rates by 46%, natural gas prices by 79%, and the cost of gasoline by as much as 40 cents a gallon.

Seniors on a fixed income are least able to afford these higher prices.

During the cold winter months, many seniors must choose between staying

warm and having enough food to eat and medicine to stay healthy. And in the

heat of the summer, an inability to cool a home can be a death sentence to the elderly.

The very last thing public policies should do is to add to the costs of electricity and natural gas for the elderly . Likewise, many seniors and their

families must be able to afford gasoline to be able to get to their doctor’s office, grocery store, and pharmacy.

Government mandates which increase the costs of electricity, natural gas, and gasoline are tantamount to a tax on those least able to pay it.

On behalf of 4.5 million seniors, including nearly 10,000 in Idaho, please do everything you can to prevent S 139 from being passed.

Cordially,

James L. Martin

President