Tierney hears from Lynners on home heat costs

LYNN – Hoping to hear first-hand accounts of how the high cost of energy is affecting their ability to help the needy, U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney gathered representatives from several city agencies Thursday.Before the session was over, several common denominators emerged among the nearly 40 people packed into a room at Lynn Economic Opportunity (LEO). Among them: government subsidies aren’t keeping up with the rising cost of energy; senior citizens on fixed incomes are going hungry and cold; more extensive home weatherization programs are needed; and tapping into the federal strategic petroleum reserve might provide relief by bringing down oil prices in as little as 10 days.”It’s a grim forecast,” said Jack Mogielnicki, executive director at LEO. “Heating prices are through the roof. The demand for firewood is up all over New England. It’s a crisis because high energy costs even affect children’s health. Children are not as healthy when they don’t have heat.”Mogielnicki said elders were having trouble paying heat bills when oil was selling for $2.24 per gallon a year ago and will likely have more difficulty now that prices have topped $4.09 per gallon.School lunch programs have been cut back because the price of oil impacts the cost of food. At the local Meals On Wheels program, recipients are getting five frozen dinners delivered once a week instead of a hot meal each day as the agency trims its transportation costs.Mary Magner from My Brother’s Table said high heating costs have prompted some residents to use dangerous space heaters and cheap extension cords.Laurie Haggy, a LEO daycare counselor, said government eligibility income guidelines are so low many couples with children can’t receive energy assistance. “These couples are going out and getting second jobs to pay their bills, which means their children are with us 10 hours a day,” Haggy said.Pat Driscoll, executive director of Girls Inc., said the organization’s transportation and utility bills have doubled. “The more we pay for those, the less number of girls we can service,” she said.According to Tierney, the country’s oil reserve is 97 percent full. “It would take 10 days to bring down the cost of oil. “Former President Bush, the President’s father, did it when he was in office and it dropped the price of a barrel of oil by 30 percent. Bill Clinton did it, too, and it dropped 19 percent,” he said. “In 10 days, you would see a drop in price from 9 to 33 percent.”The price of oil is often linked to speculation by investors in the global market. “We need to stop that speculation,” he said. “We also need to stop the rhetoric. Every time somebody yells at Iran and Iran yells back, the price of oil goes up and Iran puts more money in its pocket.”Tierney urged those present to write to the White House and to their representatives in Congress, stressing support for tapping into the strategic oil reserves. Asked whether any grassroots movement exists to further that effort, Tierney said none apparently has been formed.Tierney said Congress must stop the oil companies from price gouging and from obtaining more federal land leases for oil exploration because current ones haven’t been used.”We want to take the subsidies being paid to the oil companies and give them to the alternative energy companies,” he said, noting the many firms pushing wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric power.The congressman said support for ethanol has waned since it drives up the price of food, as does competition from China and India, which are now consuming protein at record levels.Tierney supports passage of another stimulus package and an increase in LIHEAP, the Low Income High Energy Assistance Fund.”Here in New England, the problem is the inability to pay for heat, but in places like Texas and Arizona, people are having the same issue paying for air conditioning,” he said.Tierney said Thursday’s forum was not merely a venue for the frustrated to vent, but a way to learn more about local prob