Heat for the Poor

THIS WINTER, many poor Americans will not be able to afford one of the most basic of human needs: warmth. For old age pensioners struggling to survive on a monthly $300 Social Security check, this winter's heating bills, which will run well over their entire income, could lead to a choice between freezing and starving.

This year, the poor will need much more extensive subsidies than those now planned by the government. The price of home heating oil has doubled in a single year due to the lifting of price controls and the OPEC price hikes--the government's response has been shockingly inadequate. President Carter and Congress are leaving this year's relief effort to the Community Services Administration (CSA). But the $1.2 billion Congress is appropriating for the CSA's Emergency Crisis Assistance program will only provide each family below the poverty line with $400 of aid for the winter, enough to pay one month's heating bill. This unreal level of aid leaves poor people with the macabre choice of whether to freeze in December, January or February.

The government's failure to respond quickly to the home heating oil crisis dramatically points up the dangers of a piecemeal approach to the broader energy crisis. In addition to a comprehensive plan to ease the crisis on the supply side of the energy equation, immediate attention must be paid to easing American demand for oil.

A plan to cope with the home heating oil crisis should do more than provide woefully insufficient stop-gap measures to help poor people pay their utility bills. It should also be part of a national effort to encourage all Americans, not just the poor to conserve energy. Such a multi-faceted program would include such as measures as the following. The Department of Energy estimates that any homeowner can cut his energy consumption by 25 to 40 per cent with an investment of $60, spent on water flow restrictors for faucets and showers, insulation for water heaters, caulking for doors and windows, and similar measures.

The Senate has approved a tax credit of up to $300 for the purchase of conservation devices that will go into effect next year; the bill's scope should also be expanded to subsidize conservation for people who can't afford to invest any money in such efforts. There should also clearly be a major effort to direct public on-the-job training and employment programs towards the nation's energy needs. In addition, we must encourage a new emphasis on community-based conservation efforts already in place in scattered locales. In Fitchburg, Massachusetts, the town's leaers have united around the conservation theme. With advice from the federal agency ACTION, they are in the process of opening ten neighborhood centers where residents can learn in three hours how to slash their energy costs. Ultimately, the projects organizers hope community volunteers will knock on every door in town and weatherproof thousands of homes. Such measures are unglamorous, but essential to a nation that hopes to be free of its dependence on foreign oil. Before the next blizzard, citizens and government at all levels must develop these and all other alternatives available to ward off the long cold winter of '79.