Little Heat, Less Light

MAINE – Back in December, Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins said they had cut an uncomfortable deal. They would vote for cloture on a Defense appropriations bill that included drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In return, they would get, right after the Senate voted on the Samuel Alito nomination, a vote for $2 billion in increased funding for home heating. Justice Alito is now, of course, on the court, but the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program is still waiting for that vote.

The senators have tried a half dozen ways to get one, but they have yet to
be successful. Next up, perhaps by Tuesday, Feb. 28, is an amendment to
a flood-insurance bill that would shift LIHEAP funding from fiscal year ‘07
to the current year and allow $1 billion to be spent at the president’s
discretion this winter.

That idea is being held up by fiscal conservatives, notably Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. But even that funding is not a great deal because it would set up the system for crisis next year, when, according to news reports, the president’s budget would cut weatherization programs by nearly one-third.

Inaction in the Senate is met with high oil prices in Maine. The mild winter has helped enormously, so much so that the Department of Energy has lowered its recent price forecast. And more help came from Maine lawmakers, who acted swiftly with $5 million in added funding, and from Venezuela, which contributed similarly. But prices are much higher this year and Maine is a long way from spring.

Bangor News