Olver muses about realistic oil goals

Action must be taken now to assist struggling families, he says

By Owen Boss

WASHINGTON — As families across the region brace for a winter where it could cost as much as $5 per gallon for heating oil, Congressman John W. Olver, D-Amherst, discussed the importance of coming up with realistic solutions to high energy prices, which included tripling the funding for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, an initiative that assisted 350,000 families across New England with staying warm last winter. Although thousands of families depended on the program’s funds to keep their homes heated last winter, only one in four of families eligible by income used that program, which Mr. Olver said could make the demand for support skyrocket this coming year. In order to deal with the impending crisis before it becomes a major problem, the New England Delegation proposed a $10 billion national investment. From that investment, officials within the delegation sought to allocate $9 billion for home heating assistance through LIHEAP and $1 billion toward the expansion of the Home Weatherization Program. “This summer, Americans are focused on high gas prices, but in New England, a whole new crisis looms as families are faced with steeply rising costs to heat their homes this coming winter,” said Mr. Olver. “Last year, families paid on average $2.50 for a gallon of home heating oil. Prices for this winter will average $5 per gallon or more. In essence we have to basically double the funding. You need to expect with this kind of dramatic price increase that three out of four of those families who are income-eligible are going to finally decide to take advantage of this because they’ve got to.” Mr. Olver said the issue must be dealt with immediately because in his eyes, the longer we discuss possible solutions to the nation’s current energy crisis, the more expensive it becomes. “These problems are only going to get worse,” said Mr. Olver. “We need to act now as a unified front to start coming up with realistic solutions to the increase in energy prices.” Among the solutions Mr. Olver recommended were the curbing of speculation trading of oil, from which he said 20 to 30 percent of the price of oil is derived from testimonials given from various people in different parts of the oil industry. “If we could really get at this huge increase in speculative trading in the worldwide oil futures market we could see an instant drop in oil prices,” said Mr. Olver. “If we act together this could be done relatively quickly and it is one of the few ideas we can think of that would be an immediate help.” Another possible solution Mr. Olver has been pushing for is funding research that would lead to the cultivation of domestic oil reserves in Alaska, which he said could begin producing results in as little as three years. “We as a country have millions of acres of land where we know there are oil and gas reserves, and this area of land has a petroleum reserve that is roughly the size of the wildlife refuge and it is totally open for leasing, of which only 15 percent is actually leased, and not one drop of oil has been produced,” said Mr. Olver. “We have one bill that will require the president to work with these oil companies and begin to build the oil pipeline connections from this area that is all available for lease so the oil could be brought to market.” Mr. Olver said he has been working diligently toward producing results before it becomes a significant problem across the region this winter, because for many families it will be a financially difficult season. “Heating a home is not an option for families,” said Mr. Olver. “And we believe Congress must act before we end our session.” oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 7/18/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 169)