Sen. Tom Harkin, right, met with Melvin Kolker, of Merrill, and other Plymouth County residents Wednesday at Lally's Eastside Restaurant in Le Mars. Harkin discussed alternatives to rising oil costs, his hopes for changes for people with disabilities and outlined bills currently being discussed in the Senate. [Click to enlarge]

Sen. Tom Harkin told Plymouth County residents gathered Wednesday at Lally's Eastside Restaurant that addiction is the reason for the continued increase in oil prices.

"When you're addicted to something, you just continue to feed the addiction," Harkin said.

During his cross-Iowa tour stop in Le Mars Wednesday morning, Harkin met with about 15 people. He highlighted bills he's working on, discussed residents' concerns with current affairs and answered questions.

As far as oil prices are concerned, Harkin offered possible solutions that ranged from drilling in suitable areas to building more efficient vehicles to considering alternative types of fuel.

"Where is it written in stone that our cars have to run on gasoline?" Harkin asked. "The first cars built ran on two things, alcohol and electricity."

If today's average automobile ran on electricity, it could be powered by wind, nuclear energy, coal, ethanol or anything that makes electricity, Harkin said.

"We're still going to need oil for certain trucks and things like that, but we can really begin a new path so that 10 to 20 years from now oil is sort of a residual kind of thing that you need to run this and that, nothing you primarily need," Harkin said. "We can do that."

(Advertisement)

In addition to making cars that don't require oil, he said, another option would be to produce fuel from other substances.

Already, 1 acre of corn generates about 400 gallons of and 1 acre of cellulose about 700 gallons of ethanol a year, Harkin said.

And he has also seen diesel made from algae, which produces up to 15,000 gallons per year from 1 acre, Harkin said.

He's not against drilling for oil.

However, Harkin said he's not in favor of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWAR), the spot many have discussed as a viable option.

"This is not cheap oil," Harkin said. "It's real deep and it's real expensive."

Oil from that area is estimated to cost between $150 to $200 a barrel and it could be 20 years or more before it is ready to be used in the United States, he said.

A man in attendance Wednesday said the working people, who could not attend the mid-morning meeting, are the ones suffering the most from the high fuel prices.

Harkin said next year the Legislature may look at ways to help low income workers by possibly giving tax credits for those willing to trade their vehicles on models that are more efficient.

A different man spoke of a time in the 1970s when speed limits were changed to help save gas. He said he saved money by slowing down to 55 miles per hour in higher speed limit area.

Harkin said lowering speed limits had not been discussed.

"We just need to think about how you narrow down how much you use your car," Harkin said.

In addition to oil prices, Harkin also spoke Wednesday about a bill he hopes will reverse negative changes for people with disabilities that have occurred in the last few years.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which passed in 1990, was sponsored by Harkin.

"We've come a long way making sure all people with disabilities are able to be integrated into all aspects of our society," Harkin said.

"In the last few years, the Supreme Court has made some decisions that have eroded the protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act."

For example, he said, because of those decisions people with muscular dystrophy, diabetes, mental retardation and amputees are not considered disabled and therefore are not protected under the ADA.

"About a year ago the disability groups came to me and said we have to restore the ADA to what we initially planned it to be to overcome these Supreme Court decisions," Harkin said.

Harkin told the story of a pharmacist who had diabetes that needed special breaks to take insulin shots and eat snacks while at work. His employer was not supportive. The high court ruled the pharmacist was not disabled because he could work.

"For people with disabilities, it's a catch-22 situation," Harkin said. "If I take drugs or use a device that makes me more able to do things and can get a job then I'm not disabled. If I don't, I can't get a job but I'm covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act."

Harkin said he hopes when the Legislature resumes in September the new bill will pass as he has support from both the business and disability communities.

"That will again put the ADA back so that people with these kinds of disabilities are once again covered," Harkin said.

Spending the majority of his time on those two issues, Harkin also briefly mentioned other bills the Senate is currently working on.

One includes working to secure an additional $10 billion to aid flood ravaged states including Iowa. That money is in addition to the $2.65 million already set aside. He said Iowa would receive the bulk as it has had the most damage.

Two other measures include a housing bill allocating up to $400,000 to help homeowners facing foreclosure, and giving the Consumer Product Safety Commission more authority to intervene right away to help keep children safe from lead infected toys.

Following the meeting, Harkin said another priority for him is ensuring passage of a bill for a program to provide low income elderly people with energy assistance to help heat their homes this winter.

"This is very important. We have a lot of elderly in Iowa," Harkin said. "This is an obligation we have to take care of."