Rising energy costs eyed amid brutal cold snap gripping US

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

David Sharp, Associated Press
 Updated 5:15 pm, Thursday, December 28, 2017

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Plunging temperatures across half the country on Thursday underscored a stark reality for low-income Americans who rely on heating aid: Their dollars aren't going to go as far this winter because of rising energy costs.

Forecasters warned people to be wary of hypothermia and frostbite from an arctic blast that's gripping a large swath from the Midwest to the Northeast, where the temperature, without the wind chill factored in, dipped to minus 32 (minus 35 Celsius) on Thursday morning in Watertown, New York.

Even before the cold snap, the Department of Energy projected that heating costs were going to track upward this winter, and many people are keeping a wary eye on their fuel tanks to ensure they don't run out.

The burden caused by higher prices and higher energy usage is felt by all Americans, especially those who struggle to stay warm.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Bundle-up-Bitter-cold-weather-takes-hold-of-12458731.php

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. And Trump wants to kill LIHEAP.

https://www.snopes.com/does-president-trump-plan-to-end-a-program-funding-heating-for-the-elderly-and-disabled/

[dalton99a]

11. He enjoys seeing other people suffer

[irisblue]

2. My programmable thermostat 63 day, 61@ night.

Cats are enjoying their heating pad.

[dhol82]

3. I normally try to keep the zone where I do most of living at around 60-65. What can I say

I generally like it on the colder side. My bedroom I keep at 55 - i have the most amazing heated mattress pad that keeps me toasty.
Have cranked up all the thermostats because I don’t want the pipes to freeze.
Just had oil delivered today. $1000. It will go faster than usual if this cold snap continues.

[jpak]

4. It was fucking brutal today

It was below zero at sunset - and going to dip to double digits tonight.

And the wind....ugh

Glad I topped off my oil tank last week....

[SergeStorms]

6. The ten day forecast....

is for more of that same. Barely out of the single digits during the day and below zero temps at night. This is highly unusual. I wonder what's going to happen in the historically coldest part of winter in February?

[mr_lebowski]

8. With what we're doing to the earth, all bets are off ... could be freezing, could be the warmest Feb

... ever.

I suspect the extreme cold snap (which we've been seeing lately more often) is being caused by displacement of Arctic air further south. If the previous pattern is present here, it's likely unseasonably warm right now in the Alaska region, and parts of the Arctic.

This phenomenon has been explained by climate scientists as being potentially part of the climate change process, and the mechanism of it is becoming better understood.

As I'm sure many know, overall climate change could very well result in lower average temps across a broad swath of Europe that is presently warmer than it would otherwise be if not for the warm Gulf Stream waters of the Atlantic. If that process 'shuts down' as many Climate Scientists have predicted might happen due to ice melts further north ... a whole bunch of Europe will be making similar stupid jokes as Trump, as they freeze their asses off ... while the Arctic and Greenland melt away ...

[SergeStorms]

10. Exactly.

I was thinking of checking the temps in Anchorage etc. yesterday and completely for got about it. I checked a few times last year, and sure enough, it was warmer in various cities in Alaska that it was here.

[B2G]

12. Looks pretty damn cold to me.

[mr_lebowski]

14. It may not match perfectly with last time we had such a snap and we shouldn't expect it to always

However, MOST of the rest of the world is considerably warmer, per this chart of temp anomalies worldwide at this time ...

Link to tweet

[rdking647]

5. didnt cuomo block construction of a gas pipeline?

like it or not we need gas. we arent at the point where we can switch to all green energy. and that means either more pipeline to transport fuel or else get ready to pay higher and higher prices for fuel especially in a cold snap...

[SergeStorms]

7. Two of them, as a matter of fact.

Both because of environmental concerns. One would have crossed 240 rivers, streams, and creeks in NYS before it reached it's terminus. The other was to be built by a company from Oklahoma, and they had the worst performance and safety record in the country. Cuomo wants to use renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuels, and I don't blame him. We can stay mired in the past, or break out and be a leader in renewable energy consumption. I vote for the latter.

[rdking647]

15. what do you do in the meantime until renawables are ready to take over

its pie in the sky to think we can just turn a switch and go torenewables.
right now in new england power plants that can burn either (relatively) clean nat gas or oil are switching to oil. becasue theres not enough pipelines to ship the gas in causing nat gas prices to spike.

[Achilleaze]

9. Thanks a diaper-load republicans

This is all on the republicans. The buck stops on their greed-infested desks.

[rdking647]

16. actualy in this case its the green energy folks fault

they are the ones who blocked pipelines from being built. l

[RandiFan1290]

13. I thought prices were supposed to fall

after you eliminate regulations and give the corporations tax cuts?