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HIGHLIGHTS
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LIHEAP – Letters
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Beach Closings – Letter
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Energy for Multi-Family Housing --
Briefing
LIHEAP – Letters
The Energy Information Administration is forecasting
dramatic increases for residential energy costs this upcoming winter.
Low-income families were facing high energy prices prior to the devastation
left by Hurricane Katrina and those rises have only shot higher. The
ranges for expected heating fuel expenditure increases this winter are 69
percent to 77 percent for natural gas in the Midwest; 17
percent to 18 percent for electricity in the South; 29 percent to 33
percent for heating oil in the Northeast; and 39 percent to 43 percent for
propane in the Midwest.
Heating costs for the average family using heating oil this upcoming winter
are projected to hit $1,666, an increase of $403 over last year’s
prices and $714 over the winter heating season of 2003-04. For
families using natural gas, prices are projected to hit $1,568,
representing an increase of $611 over last year’s prices and $643
over 2003-04.
Members of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition
– led by Reps. Charles Bass (R-NH), Marty Meehan (D-MA), Steven
LaTourette (R-OH), and Louise Slaughter (D-NY) – sent a letter to the
president requesting $900 million in emergency funds for the Low Income
Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for the upcoming winter. Senators
Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jack Reed (D-RI), co-chairs of the
Northeast-Midwest Senate Coalition, are circulating a letter asking the
Senate Appropriations Committee to include $1.276 billion in emergency
LIHEAP funds in a comprehensive supplemental.
Beach Closings – Letter
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and
Reps. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), Mark Kirk (R-IL), and Louise Slaughter (D-NY),
on behalf of the Great Lakes Task Force, are asking the General
Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate beach closures.
Contaminated water along Great Lakes beaches
continues to be a human health threat to swimmers and others who come in
contact with the water. The letter requests that GAO review the
effectiveness of the implementation of the Beach Act and EPA's Clean Beaches
Plan by the eight Great Lakes states,
and it asks GAO to comment on any actions that could be taken to improve
the quality of water off Great Lakes
beaches. The signature letter for the request letter is Friday,
September 16. Contact: Joy Mulinex with the Great
Lakes Task Force (202/224-1211).
Energy for Multi-Family Housing –
Briefing
A Capitol Hill briefing on Monday, September 19, will
review the substantial opportunities to utilize combined heat and power
(CHP) technologies in the multi-family housing market, as well as the
barriers to CHP’s adoption that are only beginning to be broken
down. The briefing will review successful projects, challenges, and
tool available for those wanting to assess the feasibility of CHP in
particular applications. Speaking will be representatives of Energy
and Environmental Analysis, University of Maryland, and
Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sponsors include the
Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition, Northeast-Midwest Institute, and
Environmental and Energy Study Institute.
The September 19 briefing will run from 2:00 pm until 3:00 pm in 1539 Longworth House Office Building.
Contact: Diane DeVaul with the
Northeast-Midwest Institute (202/464-4009).
Calendar | Media Links | Reports/Periodicals
Northeast-Midwest Institute
218 D St, SE
Washington DC 20003
Ph. 202 544 5200
Email dickmunson@nemw.org with comments or to
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