With heating oil expected to be 36% more expensive, natural gas twice that amount, and LIHEAP funding lower than it was in the 1980s, there are grave warnings that the northeastern U.S. could be facing a "frozen Katrina" this winter.
America faces "a looming energy disaster with lives hanging in the balance. Currently, eight million homes rely on heating oil during the winter months, and last winter's prices forced too many citizens to choose between heat, food, and medicine.
According to the New York Times, heating oil prices are now 36 percent higher than they were last winter and bills will be up to $1500 higher than they were last year. As for the 54 million households heating with natural gas, prices are expected to be 67 percent higher this winter. Current funding for the Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is below 1980's levels.
With both lower-income and middle-class people now unable to afford this basic necessity--a requirement for security in one's own home--newspapers in the Northeast are sounding a clarion call to head-off the impending disaster.
As the Boston Globe wrote in an editorial this month, 'The country...has more than three months to prepare for this frozen Katrina.'"
FULL STORY: Winter Storm Warning
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.
Vehicle-related Deaths Drop 29% in Richmond, VA
The seventh year of the city's Vision Zero strategy also cut the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes by half.
Downtown Portland Ready for Maine's Tallest Building
The city of Portland anticipates a major new urban development addition called the “Old Port Square” project.
The EV “Charging Divide” Plaguing Rural America
With “the deck stacked” against rural areas, will the great electric American road trip ever be a reality?
Judge Halts Brooklyn Bike Lane Removal
Lawyers must prove the city was not acting “arbitrarily, capriciously, and illegally” in ordering the hasty removal.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Borough of Carlisle
Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)