Michigan Winters Suck!

Cold Michigan Winters Suck!


December has been cold and snowy. Great for skiers and snowmobilers. Bad for people who heat homes and buildings. Oh. That would be most of us.

Natural gas prices are predicted to rise 71% this winter. 71%.

As far as I know, we don’t find natural gas in the middle east. There are no refinery shortages. So, why the heck will natural gas prices rise 71%? In fact, since heating companies are loosely regulated, why would we even allow them to rise that much? Who’s making the money?

Anyway, the real thing that angers me about the whole deal is that the rise in natural gas prices disproportionately affects the poor. Just like the summertime hike in gasoline prices, the poor are getting the short end of the stick.

What is our legislature’s wise and compassionate response? “Well,” they say, “we will make it more difficult for the gas companies to shut off the heat during winter.” Wow. Gimme a seat before I fall!

Don’t they see how short-sighted their answer is? Great. We get people through the great heating crunch of 2005-2006. Their gas can’t get shut off until April or May. When will they be able to pay the bills? Maybe never. So....what happens next year when heating season rolls around? The gas companies are the bad guys because they aren’t shutting people off during the heating season, they are just refusing to turn the gas back on for the poor people who still can’t pay last year’s bills.

The effects of this year’s winter will be devastating for many, many people whose budgets are stretched before the heating season starts. I can only pray that the people that run the government will not turn a blind eye to the poor and needy and will resist the urge to put in stop-gap measures that just delay the time when the piper must be paid. In the meantime, I’ll start cutting up the dining room table for kindling.

Blawgerman