Edwards Offers Heating Oil Plan

This caught my eye because I vaguely recalled someone else's offering solutions to the high costs of heating oil.

The DiversityInc story starts out with this.

Are the oil companies helping them? Not any of the ones based in the United States.

Will government give them a hand? Well, the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is available, but only 16 percent of eligible families take advantage of this. And some states, especially in the Northeast, do have programs to help low-income families, but again, only a few take advantage of them.

Why? For undocumented immigrants, the fear of registering with a government agency is strong. For others, there is a historic distrust of the government. And in many cases, families just don't know about where to go for help.

Now that's truly a sad state of affairs. There are some programs in place already, but woefully underutilzed.

But back to Edwards.

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards will outline a plan Sunday to provide immediate relief to families struggling with high heating oil bills and to ensure affordable prices in the future.

Noting that home heating oil prices in New Hampshire have surpassed $3 a gallon, the former North Carolina senator is calling on Congress to release some of the nation's home heating oil and crude oil reserves as a way to bring down prices by increasing supply. He also is urging Congress to fully fund the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, according to a copy of his plan provided to The Associated Press.

Earlier this month, President Bush vetoed a Democratic health and education spending bill that included $2.4 billion for heating subsidies for the poor, $480 million more than Bush requested.

Via Japan Herald.

Perhaps Hugo Chávez should be running.

So which oil companies are coming to the rescue? Not American-owned or British-owned companies. The main company helping is Citgo, a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., Venezuela's state-run oil company. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez recently visited the South Bronx to tout his discounted-oil offer.

Citgo partners with Citizens Energy Corporation (CEC), a nonprofit that provides low-cost heating oil to low-income families in 15 states and Washington, D.C. CEC works with oil-heat dealers and local fuel-assistance agencies. This year, it will provide eligible families a one-time delivery of 100 gallons of home-heating oil. CEC has reached out to U.S.-owned oil companies, but only Citgo responded, says Ashley Durmer, CEC spokesperson.

Via DiversityInc. Note: Same link as above.