This editorial first appeared in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:
As Interior Alaskans watch their fuel tanks drain and their wood stacks shrink in the cold, it’s good to see local legislators headed to Juneau are putting a priority on reducing energy costs.
The cost of heating in this area is oppressive, and it’s never more noticeable than during cold spells such as the one that has kept Fairbanks well below zero for most of the month.
January always is chilly, but the amount of energy required to heat a home — as reflected by the heating degree index — has been running almost 50 percent more than normal for this time of year.
The daily heating degrees figure represents the difference between the day’s average outside temperature and the normal temperature inside a home. Jan. 14 had 108 heating degrees, almost 50 percent more than the normal 74 for that date.
Fortunately, the current temperatures do not reflect the total season. In fact, the heating degree days accumulated since July 1 of last year were almost exactly normal as of Jan. 14: The normal number is 7,292, while the total as of Jan. 14 was 7,251. The warm fall months and a warm December have made up for the winter’s two cold events: the record-setting deep freeze in mid-November and the current stretch of well below average temperatures.
So we can all grouse about the cost of the cold, but the only exacerbating factor this winter so far has been the price of fuel. It chews up much of the margin people here used to enjoy when comparing their incomes to their expenses.
Legislators are correct when they observe that short-term solutions are hard to find, outside direct cash or subsidies from the state. But they have put forward some ideas that could encourage the delivery and distribution of natural gas, as well as its use to generate electricity, which also has been rising in price because of the cost of fuel.
We hope legislators keep working on these ideas, and more. The cold has us all wishing for solutions.
Comments (17)
Add commentI heat with wood pellets...
Equal to paying $2.50/gal heating oil. Its just one alternative.
I love to hear...
...my boiler kick on over and over when it's cold out. That gentle rumble really helps me sleep.
And knowing I'm doing my part to fund the world's oil barons...priceless.
Buy some blankets and use
Buy some blankets and use less energy.
Problem solved.
@NewLife: how come I don't
@NewLife: how come I don't get a clever nickname? Do I mean that little to you?
Also: blankets take relatively little energy to make, and fossil fuels aren't necessary for their creation at all.
What we do not need
is another political giveaway : heat subsidy. My heating bill is higher than I'd like it to be. The problem with a subsidy is it just get to hard to manage the giveaway in any equitable form.
Consider the time when there was the extra in your PFD to help with energy cost. Every PFD recipient received the same amount. That sounds equatable on the surface. In reality it also gave some families far more than they ever spent on heating. In other family housing units where mom, dad, three kids, grandparents and others live together it not only paid the fuel bills but provided a lot of extra income to a few.
I'm not jealous of those whose family relieved what they did. I just pointing out the intent was suppose to be to offset heating cost and in many instance the family received far more than actual cost. A good intention of the legislate did not get the intended results. Renters meanwhile may have actually used none of the extra to pay for heating if they were living in a unit where changes in fuel prices does not affect the rent.
On the other hand a subsidy such as one that reduces the actaul cost of heating oil does not guarantee a renter will see any lowering of their rent. Landlords topically never pass on savings to tenants.
Can't avoid the fossils
Hey PP, it doesn't take any fossil fuels to produce a blanket?? Hmm, last time I checked most blankets contain nylon or polyester. I've been by the Pendleton factory and saw smoke/steam coming out of it. How do blankets get delivered here? At any rate, all rational economists say the fastest way to spur a lagging economy is inexpensive energy. Lets get some Russian tankers in here with that cheap Korean fuel!
islander - good points
...and I have to say, on things like this I do fall with the 'self-responsibility' crowd. You choose where you live. A family of four could afford to move if they used a PFD to do it. Part of determining if you can afford to live somewhere is the heating costs. I recently moved into a new house. I took very, very careful accounting of what the utilities would cost me before I did it. And built myself a cushion on top of that.
If we keep subsidizing fuel for those who choose to live in cold climates, it becomes expected, like some view the PFD as 'earned' income, rather than a windfall.
@Banditrider: learn how to
@Banditrider: learn how to knit.
Blankets:
“fossil fuels aren't necessary for their creation at all.”
Lets see, cotton and wool are probably the most common material used for blankets.
Think what it takes to produce a blanket from start to finish, from the day the seed is planted to the day the blanket rolls of the assembly line. Do the same with wool. You could grow your own sheep or cotton, sheer it cut it and weave it. But somewhere fossil fuel is going to come into play.
How about petrochemicals which are chemicals made from crude oil and natural gas. The chief fibers manufactured from petrochemicals include nylon, polyester, acrylic, and olefin.
Stagnate income:
Swimmer, I do agree with you’re post. I did the same when I purchased my home. However, the one thing that is killing most people is the fact that heating fuel and electric rates have increased dramatically. According to the Bureau of Labor the price of fuel has increased 83 percent over the past 3 years. When your income is stagnate it’s hard for some to keep up.
Nope! Wool is produced by
Nope! Wool is produced by sheep, which don't require fossil fuels to raise. Cotton is a crop, which also doesn't require fossil fuels. Same with hemp. And flax. And every other natural fiber.
Blankets existed long before we adopted a fossil fuel economy, and my point is that if you're cold and your heating oil/electricity is expensive, a blanket is an inexpensive fix for the problem. When paired with a cup of hot coffee/tea/cocoa, it's better than a heater.
Also, Milspec., part of the problem is that over the last few decades, homes have gotten larger and larger (and thus more expensive to heat). If people would live in homes that really reflect their needs and not their gluttony, heat would cost a whole lot less. A family of four doesn't need 2,000 square feet of space.
Yeah, next time we have an
Yeah, next time we have an arctic front blow through, turn off all your head and grab a blankie. Good luck with that hot coffee though. It takes electricity to brew that pot. You could use a wood stove, but the city won't let us burn wood when those high pressure systems hit us.
Actually, I've raised sheep
Actually, I've raised sheep and they do require fossil fuels, albeit not much, but if you grain them, they use fossil fuels to grow the grain, if you ship them from one pasture to another (a common practice unless your a land baron), shipping the wool to the yarn (unless you just happen to have all the equipment to do it yourself, see land baron above) Unless you use the old spinning wheel and a hand loom you need electricity.
One thing I would like to see is that the UAF CCRC recommendations be made code for Alaska. Since its expensive to heat, maybe we should properly insulate our homes for the climate! Just a thought...
KP:
I understand where you are coming from I use to raise a few cattle at one time in my life sure miss that. But PP still thinks we live in the Stone Age and that is what he is referring to, not the present. Now if only we could send him back in time. I don’t care what he says if he was to try and raise a crop or even cattle no matter what he uses it will come in touch with fossil fuel. Even the Amish can’t escape that fact.
Yep. I do miss the little
Yep. I do miss the little range maggots. Was good times! Definitely ranching even small scale like I did is a very good lifestyle. But a lifestyle reliant on fossil fuels none the less.