I’m not sure how big the energy bill is except that it is a step in the right direction. Reversing tax breaks for Big Oil is a plus. I’ve pulled some quotes and made comments:
"We will send our energy dollars to the Midwest, not the Middle East," countered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, referring to the bill’s emphasis on promoting renewable energy sources, especially ethanol, which would see a sevenfold increase by 2022 to 36 billion gallons a year.
Why do they expect that ethanol is the answer? According to some government Web sites, Ethanol can cost $1.10 to 1.50 per gallon to produce. (One government Web site stated that wholesale gasoline is selling at around 90 cents per gallon. I’m not sure how up to date this.) But how much are we adding to the price of food because we’re using more and more corn and soybean crops for fuel production? It defeats the purpose. Remember it’s a domino effect. Corn costs more, livestock that feed on the corn costs more, finally meat costs more, etc.
The bill would roll back $13.5 billion in tax breaks enjoyed by the five largest U.S. oil companies with the money to be used for tax incentives for development of renewable energy sources like ethanol from grasses and wood chips and bio-diesel and for energy efficiency programs and conservation.
It’s about time. With the Enron Loophole allowing energy traders to speculate oil prices far and above the true market value has put unnecessary strains on our economy and allowed the oil companies to reap ridiculous monetary rewards which will never be used to benefit society in the form of new and better fuel sources.
"There’s nothing in here that’s going to lower gas prices in America … nothing that is going to help American families deal with heating costs this winter … nothing to increase production," complained Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio.
No argument there. We have to take it in the rear. Continue Reading →
Boy, the last couple of years energy prices have left me reeling. I dusted off my wood burning stove and invested in a couple of electric space heaters. See, my home has 3 heating zones: Main, Bedroom and Basement.
The basement is set at 45 to keep the pipes from freezing. Can’t change that too much. But without kids yet, my wife and I only use 1 of 3 bedrooms, so I’ve reduced the heat to 57 degrees in the bedroom zone and use a space heater to keep our room at 64.
The rest of the house–living room, kitchen, dining room and bathroom–are kept at 60 degrees except from 7-9 am and 6-11 pm when I let it go up to 65. When we’re home I start up a roaring fire in the woodstove to stop the oil burner. The main hallway gets up to 72 and heat transfers all the way down to the bedroom. Sweet!
Last year I didn’t use the wood stove. Why? I hadn’t had my chimney inspected since the stove was last used and I didn’t trust there might be a blockage and burn the house down. That would have only kept use warm for a few hours at most. (Check your chimney at least once each year!) Actually, only heating one half of the upstairs last year saved me $300-400. I suspect this year will be somewhere around $600 saved at least, and that includes spending $175 for a cord of wood. My electric usage only increased $150.
My oil company has me on a monthly budget of $214 which also includes $300 for a maintenance program. So they expect me to be paying $2100 for oil? Nope. Not at this house. I’ll be taking myself off the budget plan next month.
This is my way of sticking it to Big Oil. Electric utilities use a mixture of oil, natural gas, coal and renewable resources for power production. This coupled with wood burning is just my small part to cut back on oil. Many consumers even have the option of going completely green by opting to use only wind or solar power. Here in NY we have the www.powertochooseny.com site where we can make that choice.
How do you save money on energy? Do you have any alternatives you’d like to share? Send me a post!
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