LIHEAP « Secure Our Fuels

Posts Tagged ‘LIHEAP’

Et tu, LCFS? DE’s Caesar Rodney Think Tank Comes Out Swinging Against LCFS

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Back in his day, Caesar Rodney knew a thing or two about declarations of independence. On July 2, 1776, with the Delaware delegation deadlocked on whether to approve a resolution spurring a final vote on the famous text, Rodney saddled up his horse and rode 80 miles through a torrential downpour to cast the decisive vote in Philadelphia. Two days later, the Continental Congress formally approved the Declaration of Independence. And away we went.

More than 235 years later, Caesar’s mad dash to Philly is memorialized on the back of the Delaware quarter. And the think tank in Dover that bears his name is committed to ensuring that legacy of independence continues – coming out this morning in the pages of the Delaware News Journal with a tremendous op-ed blasting apart the Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). As we’ve written here before, the LCFS is engineered to make our country more, not less, dependent on foreign, unstable sources of energy. Clearly not a plan that someone like Caesar Rodney would have ever abided.

Penned by Shaun Fink, the think tank’s executive director, the piece thoughtfully identifies the myriad ways in which an LCFS would visit harm on residents of the First State. To wit: “Since Delaware doesn’t produce crude oil and relies on petroleum products being supplied through ports in Wilmington and along the Delaware River, an LCFS could cause the First State to become an isolated fuel island — causing significant cost increases for gasoline, diesel and home heating fuels.”

Among the points Fink makes throughout the piece:

One-fifth of Delawareans rely on home heating oil during the winter months, a supply that would be jeopardized under an LCFS
DE required almost $19 million last year from the Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), all without an established LCFS
With 8 percent of DE residents currently unemployed, “now is the time to make sure that energy is available, affordable and reliable”

Read the op-ed in its entirety HERE.

Tags: Caesar Rodney, Continental Congress, Delaware, Delaware News Journal, LIHEAP, Low Carbon Fuel Standard
Posted in Blog | No Comments »

State LCFS Profile: Vermont

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

State of Play: LCFS in Vermont

In December, Vermont governor Jim Douglas joined several other states in signing a Memorandum of Understanding laying out a timetable for the future implementation of an LCFS. In committing Vermont to the agreement, Gov. Douglas declared his state “a leader in limiting greenhouse gas emissions,” and suggested the imposition of an LCFS would help both “meet our environmental challenges and encourage the creation of green jobs.”

Unfortunately, the only way an LCFS can “work” as engineered is by rendering secure, affordable sources of energy off limits – thereby having the effect of significantly expanding our nation’s dependence on foreign, LCFS-favored energy to meet its daily needs and costing thousands of jobs in the process. Ironically, studies show that an LCFS may actually contribute to an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere – bringing into question the governor’s notion of using an LCFS as a means to “meet our environmental challenges.”

Production and Distribution: How/Where Does Vermont Get Its Energy?

Vermont produces no petroleum of its own, refines none, and remarkably receives none via petroleum pipelines – rendering it completely dependent on others (and their trucks) for the energy resources necessary to fuel and heat the state.

While Vermont does receive occasional fuel imports from neighboring states, the vast majority of its refined petroleum comes directly from Canada – and nowhere else. Unfortunately, under the bizarre accounting methodology of the LCFS, secure and affordable energy resources from Canada could be denied entry into U.S. markets, creating serious doubt as to where the energy resources essential to Vermont residents would come from.

Every month, nearly 150,000 barrels of heating oil cross the border from Canada into Vermont – a number that shoots past 200,000 barrels a day during the winter months. As the graph below demonstrates, home heating oil isn’t the only refined product that Vermonters receive from their northern neighbors – they also rely on Canada for diesel fuel, propane, kerosene and even asphalt:

Source: Energy Information Administration, Company Level Imports, Dec. 2009

LCFS Impact on Vermont

Vermont, according to the federal Energy Information Administration, is “vulnerable to distillate fuel oil shortages and price spikes during the winter months” in particular – a function of the fact that more than 60 percent (three-fifths) of households in the state rely on fuel oil for space heating.

Regrettably, under a system envisioned by supporters of the LCFS, home heating oil – especially supplies from Canada, from where all Vermont heating oil originates – will be rendered more expensive to purchase and more difficult to access. In Vermont’s case, it’s not entirely clear where substitute supplies could even possibly come from, given the lack of ports and pipeline infrastructure.

In 2009, Vermont secured over $36.2 million from the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to help subsidize the purchase of these fuel resources for those in need – nearly 30 percent of that sum in the form of an emergency “contingency” payment above and beyond the original budget request. Unfortunately, under the LCFS, a large portion of this fuel oil may be targeted for elimination, adding additional strain to an already over-extended LIHEAP budget.

Tags: Canadian crude, Governor Jim Douglas, home heating oil, LCFS, LIHEAP, Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Vermont
Posted in Action Alerts | No Comments »

State LCFS Profile: Pennsylvania

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

State of Play: LCFS in Pennsylvania

In December, Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell joined several states in signing a Memorandum of Understanding laying out a timetable for the future implementation of a Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). In committing his state to the agreement, Gov. Rendell pledged to work with other states to “ensure the development of a strong federal program” for imposing an LCFS nationwide. After signing the document, the governor characterized the LCFS as a policy that “can create thousands of more jobs” – all while “breaking the addiction to foreign oil.”

Production and Distribution: How/Where Does Pennsylvania Get Its Energy?

Pennsylvania is credited with the distinction of being home to the first commercial oil well ever successfully drilled – Drake Well, August 1859, Titusville, Pa. One hundred and fifty years later, Pennsylvania today produces scarcely 0.2 percent of the nation’s petroleum supplies, according to EIA — although recent advancements in technology have allowed the state to dramatically increase the volume of natural gas produced from the Marcellus Shale.

Although Pennsylvania may not produce much oil, it remains the most prolific refining state in the entire Northeast – receiving daily shipments of foreign crude through ports in Marcus Hook and Philadelphia. All told, the state receives crude oil imports from eight separate foreign countries, in addition to shipments from the Gulf Coast and points south. The following graph presents this reality in greater detail:

Source: Energy Information Administration, Company Level Imports, Dec. 2009

LCFS Impact on Pennsylvania

Like many Northeastern states, Pennsylvania relies heavily upon home heating oil to keep warm during the cold winters. In fact, almost a third of households in the state use fuel oil as their primary energy source for space heating – supplies that a regional LCFS program will make more expensive to purchase and more difficult to access in the future.

In 2009, Pennsylvania secured over $308 million from the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to help subsidize the purchase of these fuel resources for those in need. Unfortunately, under the LCFS, a large portion of this fuel oil may be targeted for elimination, adding additional strain to an already over-extended LIHEAP budget.

But while an LCFS is sure to impact the residents of Pennsylvania, the vast majority of energy in the state is consumed by the state’s industrial sector, including aluminum production, chemical manufacturing, glass making, petroleum refining, forest product manufacturing and steel production. With higher costs for fuel and dramatically reduced availability of it, the ultimate effect of an LCFS could be significant job losses in the state.

Tags: heating oil, LIHEAP, Low-Carbon Fuel Standards, Pennsylvania
Posted in Action Alerts | No Comments »

The Big Chill: As Millions of Americans Turn to LIHEAP to Get Through Winter, NE Guvs Sign LCFS Pact Designed to Make Heating Oil More Expensive

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

WASHINGTON – Hours before the ball dropped on 2010 in Times Square, governors from 11 Northeast and mid-Atlantic states signed an agreement paving the way for the region-wide adoption of a California-style Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), a policy that will dramatically restrict consumers’ access to local and affordable supplies of home heating fuel without doing a thing to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

By design, an LCFS is engineered to deliver higher prices at the pump, and sharp reductions in the availability of LCFS-targeted home heating oil – essential energy supplies that have become prohibitively expensive for many working-class families in New England. Remarkably, even at a time when more Americans are seeking assistance under the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) than ever before, governors across the region are actively working to make those fuel resources more expensive – by actively working to impose a Low-Carbon Fuel Standard.

A story in yesterday’s USA Today sheds new light on just how severe the situation has become:

“A record number of U.S. households are applying for help to pay home heating bills with 17 states fielding application requests that are up more than 20% from last year, the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association says. Almost 9 million U.S. households are expected to need help paying winter energy bills. That’s up 15% from the record-setting 7.7 million last year, the association says.”

Tags: LCFS, LIHEAP, Low Carbon Fuel Standard, New England energy
Posted in Action Alerts | 1 Comment »

State LCFS Profile: New York

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

What Is a Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)?

Sold to the public as a way to lower the carbon content of fuel and reduce the amount of CO2 emitted from our tailpipes, in reality the Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) isn’t about making the fuels in your vehicle any better, cleaner or more affordable than they already are – it simply seeks to render those fuels more difficult to find and even more expensive to purchase.

State of Play: LCFS in New York

On December 30, 2009, New York joined 10 other Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states in signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on LCFS – a memo that lays the groundwork for the eventual implementation of a statewide LCFS regime in New York. In a statement issued the day of the agreement, New York Gov. David Paterson characterized the LCFS as a means for “creating the next generation of fuels that will address climate change.”

Unfortunately, according to several recent studies on the topic, an LCFS not only won’t do a thing to reduce the amount of carbon emitted into the atmosphere – it may actually contribute to an overall increase in global greenhouse gas emissions.

Production and Distribution: How/Where New York Gets Its Energy

Unlike many states in the Northeast, New York does produce small quantities of oil, and a respectable amount of natural gas — mostly in the western part of the state. Unfortunately, that production contributes only marginally to total energy demand of New York, with most of the state’s petroleum products supplied from the outside — by refineries in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the Colonial Pipeline from the Gulf Coast, and foreign imports from Canada, Norway, Russia, Portugal and India.

But while energy may arrive in New York from no fewer than 15 separate states and foreign entities, the vast majority of the state’s foreign imports come from Canada – energy that stands to be severely restricted under the LCFS regime currently in the works. The graph below details the disparity:

LCFS Impact on New York State

Like many Northeastern states, New York relies heavily upon home heating oil to keep warm during the typically cold and volatile winters (see: 2009-2010). All told, roughly a third of households in the state use fuel oil as their primary energy source for space heating – supplies that a regional LCFS program will make more expensive to purchase in the short-term, and much more difficult to access beyond that.

Last year, the state of New York secured $537 million from the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to help subsidize the purchase of these fuel resources for those in need. Unfortunately, under the LCFS, a large portion of this fuel oil may be targeted for elimination under a regime that’s fundamentally set up to disadvantage Canadian reserves, adding additionally strain to an already over-extended LIHEAP budget.

Tags: Colonial Pipeline, foreign imports, Governor Paterson, LIHEAP, New York
Posted in Action Alerts | No Comments »

State LCFS Profile: Connecticut

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

What Is A Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)?

State of Play: LCFS in Connecticut

On December 13, 2009, Consumer Energy Alliance vice president Michael Whatley sent Gov. Jodi Rell a detailed letter laying out the precise consequences that the imposition of a statewide LCFS could have on Connecticut residents. Nevertheless, two weeks later, Gov. Rell signed a Memorandum of Understanding with 10 other Northeast and mid-Atlantic states that sets the stage for an LCFS regime to be implemented by the end of next year.

Connecticut, unlike several of its regional neighbors, has yet to announce whether it will study how the adoption of a regional LCFS might impact local fuel supply markets.

Production and Distribution: How/Where Connecticut Gets Its Energy

While Connecticut may rank No. 2 in the nation in the production of oysters, the state unfortunately does not produce any significant energy resources – instead, relying on fuel imports from outside the state and the country that arrive in Connecticut via the port of New Haven.

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), imports of refined diesel fuel and home heating oil arrive each day from the Netherlands, the Virgin Islands, France, Mexico and Canada. Under the LCFS, fuel resources from both Mexico and Canada would be targeted for eventual elimination – exacerbating the state’s already dangerous status as a “fuel island,” and contributing to a significant and likely immediate increase in price.

But while an LCFS is sure to impact Connecticut residents, the vast majority of LCFS-targeted distillate fuel is consumed by the state’s industrial sector. With higher costs for fuel and dramatically reduced availability of it, the ultimate effect of an LCFS could be significant job loss in the state.

LCFS Impact on Connecticut

Like many Northeastern states, Connecticut relies heavily upon home heating oil to keep warm during the winter. All told, roughly half the households in the state use fuel oil as their primary energy source for space heating – consuming 545,000,000 gallons of the stuff each year.

Last year, Connecticut secured $126 million from the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to help subsidize the purchase of these fuel resources for those in need. Unfortunately, under the LCFS, a large portion of this fuel oil may be targeted for elimination under a regime that’s fundamentally set up to disadvantage Canadian and Mexican reserves, resulting in higher prices and less access for residents.

Tags: Connecticut, Governor Jodi Rell, home heating oil, LIHEAP
Posted in Action Alerts | No Comments »

DOCUMENT CENTER

INTERACTIVE MAP

Find out the fuel profile of your state – and what a one-size-fits-all national fuel mandate might mean for jobs, gas prices, and security.