The following two paragraphs were taken from a US government publication. ---- Crude oil prices have surged above $30 per barrel, due largely to reduced output from countries in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil exporting countries, according to DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). The high crude prices are partly to blame for a recent spike in the price of home heating oil in the Northeast, which depends heavily on heating oil as a source of home heating. Also to blame were low inventory stocks, exceptionally cold weather, and supply problems due to frozen rivers and high winds hindering the arrival of new supplies. In the three weeks between January 17 and February 7, New England home heating oil prices rose 78 cents per gallon, from $1.18 to $1.96. The crude oil market has also pushed up gasoline prices, which are expected to go higher in spring. For the full story, see the reports and testimony on the Petroleum page of EIA Web site: <http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/pet_frame.html>. To help low-income homeowners cope with the high heating oil prices, President Clinton has asked Congress to provide an additional $600 million in funds for the Low Income Housing Energy Assistance Program, $1 million in loans to small businesses, and $19 million in funds for the DOE's Weatherization Assistance Program. In a speech on Monday, the President noted, "I hope that we will begin a discussion about how to make our economy even more energy efficient, so we're not so dependent on the ups and downs of supplies or so affected by future oil prices." See the White House press release at: <http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/New/html/20000228.html>. ----- Rant mode ON... I just finished reading about the dust bowl in the American midwest. While the land was being blown away (people could hardly breath) they were still plowing. People were worried about the economy and getting the harvests going again. It was incredibly stupid and few people could see how stupid they were being. The questions and discussion never asked the right questions. Eventually, some concluded it was God's punishment. One old farmer looked back after 40 years and recognized the truth.. "the problem was greed". It was also ignorance but he didn't mention that. Todays minor energy crisis reminds me of the dust bowl. We worry about the economy and the price of oil. We believe the problems can be solved with a stable supply of oil. Well... oil isn't stable, the supply is limited, it pollutes, it is a factor in climate change, it is contributing to a thousand unhealthy industries (petro chemicals, cheap plastics, inefficient vehicles, etc.) It is time we changed our attitudes. Oil is a precious commodity. Farm land is a precious commodity. Air is a precious commodity. Life is a precious commodity. If we begin to treat resources as precious we will have a new set of problems. We need to face this and not wait for some future generation to face them. The problems go like this: 1. Energy, development, and military actions can be used to dominate others. 2. Nations and people compete for scarce resources. 3. Ethics get trampled in the race for power. It is time to look at politics and culture and ask some painful questions. Can we do this better? Can we build nations that learn from mistakes? Can we educate and maintain free choice? Can we encourage peace by using violence? Can we develop a fair legal system that doesn't self destruct due to endless rules? Can we revise economics to be sustainable? What is sustainable culture? ---- jeff owens, [EMAIL PROTECTED], http://www.xprt.net/~jko underground house, solar power, self-reliance, edible landscape to leave ecopath: unsubscribe ecopath -> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
