The Next Disaster -- Winter...Any preventive planning? Nope.

[Armstead]

Rewgardless of what happens with the weather, the upper half of the US is going to suffer a man-made disaster this winter, as fuel costs go through the roof.

Peope will be busted by high heating bills. There will be illness and probably be death from peopel who had to make that choice between heat and food.

Are we doing anythiong pro-active ahead of time to prevent this?

Nope.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. I am scared to death of winter this year. :^(

------------------------------------------------------
Save the Gulf:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=22507&mesg_id=22507

Then save the nation!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

[ewagner]

2. Agreed

just ordered several chords of wood to supplement the natural gas.

[ohio_liberal]

3. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do

My gas bill was over $300 per month Dec-March. I cut back on fun things like new shoes and auto maintenance then. I don't know how I'm going to manage this time around.

[Armstead]

7. We're on a $700 a month payment plan

and still going in the hole. And natural gas prices arelikely to keep going up.

Anyone in government doing anything to prevent this freezing by free markets? Noooooooo.

[ohio_liberal]

15. Damn

$700 a month, I can't even imagine it.

[SammyWinstonJack]

31. My goodness! $700 a month payment plan?

:wow: We barely need to turn on the heat here. The Gov. NEEDS a plan to suplement people's heating bills this winter. Congress needs to address this and NOT THE GD ESTATE TAX! People are going to freeze to death this winter!

[Blue Diadem]

24. We went to the monthly budget years ago to make equal pmts all year

We found it much easier than getting those cold month surprises. However..our natural gas just went up tremendously (25% I heard) but our new budget amount was raised from $120 a month to $180. That's $720 more annually than what we previously paid. Either they are suspecting one heckuva winter or gas went up more than 25%.

[seemunkee]

4. I need to get some firewood

We use oil and it's going to be a heavy sweater winter this year.

[MuseRider]

5. Do something proactive for

the "little people"? Sure.

This misadministration is just one outrage after another and they seem to be getting bolder and that just scared the shit outta me.

Yes, winter up north will be a joy won't it? Is there anything "we the people who actually care about others" can do to help out? Perhaps we can be proactive until we remove these guys from our White House and the halls of our congress.

[Armstead]

10. Only real answer is re-regulation and price controls

This is not just a problem for the poor. It's going to hit the middle class who don't qualify for benefits and charity.

The only real answer is interventipon in energy markets, to prevcent the gouging that has been occurring.

[MuseRider]

12. True.

My mind is just reeling this morning.

[Union Thug]

26. Agreed! Regulation is a MUST. These bastards bleed you dry if

left to their own 'free market' devices....

[mccoyn]

33. Turn your heater down a few degrees.

The cost of heating goes up on an exponential scale. The last couple of degrees cost a lot more than the first two. If everyone who keeps their house at a comfortable level lowers thier thermostats just a little bit, that will relieve some of the demand and reduce prices for the people who are already limited to survivable levels.

[skooooo]

6. Nope. .nothing can be foreseen at this time.

If anything happens, it will be a total surprise.

[Mizmoon]

8. No one EXPECTED winter to come!

What do you think your government is, psychic?

[maine_raptor]

9. Who could have guessed that winter would be so cold?

Coming soon from Pres Bush's lips to your ear....watch for it.

[Armstead]

19. We should send Bush and all in Congress the old Farmer's Almanac

Then they'd have no excuses

[FloridaPat]

11. Now this is sad. Last year in Florida we had hard wood oak trees

down all over the place. There was and still is no way to get this wood to market up north. The stuff is just too heavy. I would love to deliver to you folks. I had over 30 trees down. Lots of wood. But it would cost a fortune to transport it.

Things I did when I lived in Syracuse:
1. Closed as many rooms as I could.
2. Ran a kerosine heater during the day.
3. Put sheets of styrofoam in the windows and closed them off. This was depressing because there was little daylight.
4. Caulk windows.
5. Put raditent barrier with the foil on both sides in your attics.

Back in the "good ol days" the second floors weren't heated. Just the downstairs. Lots of blankets on beds.

[Armstead]

13. Unfortunately no matter how much conservation is practiced..

...just keeping warm anough to stay alive and prevent pipes from bursting is going to bust a lot of people.

[jwirr]

17. Kitchens were heated and became the family center.

You used the oven to cook and heat at the same time. We also wore sweaters and warm socks. Some used space heaters that could be moved from area to area as needed. Watch out for frozen pipes.

[spinbaby]

14. We're adding a lot of insulation this year

And hoping for a mild winter.

[Squatch]

16. Easy fix...

Link

[Divernan]

18. Back in 1999, under Clinton - thanks for the link.

nt

[Delphinus]

23. Easy, but not cheap.

I'd think that most of the folks who need the help the most won't be able to come up with $15k to do this.

[spinbaby]

27. Also not too practical in the north

Notice that the homes with solar panels were in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. Here in Pittsburgh the sun pretty much doesn't come out from November through March.

[IChing]

20. "Now is the winter of our discontent"

Now, not wintertime,

thanks William Shakespeare

Plan well, this winter folks
for they have no plan for you.

You can be either a
grasshopper or an ant.

[seabeyond]

21. next; oct 1 bankruptcy and credit card law n/t

[Coventina]

22. See? Global warming is a GOOD thing!

:sarcasm:

[Union Thug]

25. Sealing off all windows, buying a shitload of firewood

and putting on lots of sweaters. We'll heat the kids' room but otherwise, the heat will be down LOW.

[lapislzi]

28. Heating oil $4 / gallon? It could happen.

Over the weekend I was speaking to our local judge, who's well-connected to business interests. The heating oil companies are huge in NY, and there are many of them. He said it's not impossible for heating oil to go above $4/gallon. That will kill the folks who are on C.O.D. plans...and hurt the oil companies also, if lots of folks are "capped" low.

The winners, of course, will be the big companies that can afford to absorb the losses. The family-owned companies will suffer.

His advice? Convert to electric (yup, electric) and buy a pellet stove.

[Generic Other]

29. CNN estimates it will cost $1000 more to heat homes this winter

Who is prepared for that?

[jpak]

30. But..but...but...prayer and staged photo-ops and Dem bashing

will save us this winter - right????

[tinrobot]

32. Bush is the disaster

We will suffer until he is gone.

[mongo]

34. I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for the middle class

Our highest gas bill last winter was $116. We are in SE Ohio.

We live in an 800sf home. The thermostat is set to 63 and 58 at night. That keeps it about 5 degrees higher upstairs where we flee for the winter. We only go downstairs to cook. We supplement with electric heat in the bedroom, which adds another $50 to our costs.

Our windows get Plexiglas taped to the inside. The air trapped in between is a great insulator. Our furnace is an early 70's model, so it is not like it is super-efficient.

We don't have a wood stove - no room for one. If our gas bill goes up this winter we'll turn back the thermostat back another 5 degrees and put on more clothes.

[Kazak]

38. We have a baby due in November...

My wife and I can wear more clothes and chatter our teeth, but we've got to be able to keep the baby warm!

[cthrumatrix]

35. buy now --- the trend is up -- but there is no way to knwo for sure

[catmandu57]

36. Our house is very well insulated, however

the windows are old and drafty, so we cover them with plastic sheeting in the winter. We have just been doing the bedroom, but this year we're going to do more of the house.
I can take the cold, being the penny pinching cheapie, I'm afraid I'm going to get in trouble for breaking my wifes fingers when she turns up the thermostat, especially at night.

[Kazak]

37. Electric space heaters?

I wonder if those'll be any help to the bottom line or not?

[meganmonkey]

40. That's what me and mistermonkey are doing

I think it'll help - at least to heat the bedroom.

[mtnester]

39. It is against the law in Ohio to shut a person's heat off in the winter

this after companies shut the heat off to people during the blizzard years of 1976 - 1978 and folks froze to death in their homes.

There is also income assistance payments for people on fixed incomes.

Not that I am saying high prices won't affect folks, but winter is a little more predicable than a hurricane or tornado for example. People here are preparing, believe me. Talking at restaurants about partially closing portions of their homes and heating only the parts they need, alternatives (I see cord firewood going high as well).

Even if the government is not getting ready for it, cold weather folks are.