In the 1980 presidential election, our nation voted to replace a man who had widely been characterized as weak and unable to effectively lead this nation.
Jimmy Carter's administration had suffered through the poor advice and ineptitude of his political advisers. His presidency was beset with high inflation, equally high unemployment, the 444-day internment of our embassy staff in Iran, and the OPEC oil embargo.
Indeed, it may be the embargo itself with its gas lines and spiraling energy costs and the ensuing fear that our nation's prosperity would be stifled by those in the Middle East that was most effective in the vilification of President Carter.
Perhaps it is this reaction against the Carter administration that has put us in our current energy crisis.
In expunging ourselves of the Carter regime, we seem to have thrown out the good with the bad.
We forget that Carter had developed an aggressive oil and energy conservation campaign in response to his fear of dependence on foreign oil. We forget that there was at the time widespread support for alternative energy production such as that produced by solar and wind technologies.
We forget that the Carter administration advocated for creative use of clean coal and coal oil, or that they led a campaign to develop energy-efficient automobiles. We forget that the Carter administration reduced the daily importation of foreign oil from 8 million gallons to 2 million gallons (today we import 12 million gallons).
There are many who feel that, in our zeal to put the Carter years behind us, we failed to acknowledge one of the most profound lessons that Carter had learned. Our nation cannot remain secure as long as we are dependent on other nations to supply us with our energy.
Now, almost 30 years later, we are facing a tremendous challenge.
There will be millions of people this coming heating season who will begin to realize how really poor they have become. We are being told that the average household in the Northeast can expect to see a $2,000 increase in energy costs. This, coupled with the recent 75 percent increase in the price of gasoline, a significant rise in food costs and the prospect of a diminishing job market, are all a sobering reminder that the comfort zone that we've created for ourselves has faded.
As had happened in the '70s and early '80s, there are many who are purchasing wood and pellet stoves for the first time and preparing for the winter. For those who make their installations safely and who plan wisely, this winter will probably not pose that many problems. For those of limited means or who are too frail to manage wood or 40-pound bags of pellets, this winter may present a tremendous hardship.
Last year, our agency assisted almost 1,000 low-income seniors in receiving heating assistance benefits. This money supplemented their energy payments but by no means covered the entire cost. In many cases these people are still paying down their heating bills from last year. There are thousands of additional seniors in this region on fixed incomes who are not eligible for the Home Energy Assistance Program but who are digging into their savings and investments to keep up with this surge in the cost of living. There are also young families living on marginal incomes who can expect their rent to increase radically in cases where the landlord covers the heat, or who will be faced with these same escalated heating bills.
Am I crying wolf?
Decisions like closing down unnecessary parts of homes, house sharing, adding a pellet stove or coal furnace and renting a modest trailer in Florida for the winter are all things that should be talked about right now. For those of you who don't expect to experience a real hardship this winter but are concerned about the plight of your neighbors, now is the time to start discussing these issues as well. Offering someone a room in your house, volunteering to assist a senior with stacking wood and stoking his wood stove or donating toward a relief fund are some of the choices that you as a good neighbor can make.
In Delaware County, two heating crisis forums are being planned on Monday to bring energy experts and community members together to explore and refine a crises response strategy. At 2 p.m., a forum will be held at the Public Safety Building in Delhi, and at 6 p.m. at the Catskill Center for Conservation in Arkville. It is our hope that these meetings will generate valuable input from those in attendance. It is also hoped that neighbors and communities will step forward to partner with human-service agencies in addressing the needs of those who will not be having an easy time of it this winter. Our government agencies are not going to be able to meet this challenge alone.
The positive in this impending crisis is that we have the ability through technology to address this problem quickly. All we need is the collective will to redirect the government's priorities toward developing a smart energy policy. Maybe we should brush off some of the old Carter energy strategies as part of our effort to right the ship of the nation. More importantly, maybe we should include our neighbors as we fine-tune our own household heating strategies.
Let this winter be remarkable by bringing neighbors and human service workers together to overcome a serious energy and poverty challenge. Let this point in our history reveal to us the folly of our past self-indulgence and the true wealth that can be found in looking after those who are in need.
Tom Briggs is executive director of the Delaware County Office for the Aging.
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