[Bulwinkle]

My mom and two of my sisters live outside of Farmington and my third sister lives up in Carrabassett Valley

[ConservativeMind]

Angus, you just need to encourage your constituents to put tidal wave generators in the basements.

That will surely more than provide all the energy they deserve.

[MrLee]

I live in Maine and write a column 2-3 times a week on a local web site. I’ve been talking about a coming “catastrophe” for a few months now and the only response I get is from environmentalists who basically tell me to stop harping on the subject!!! Maine’s a weird place.....

Freezing to death is NOT a nice way to go.

[mylife]

“This winter, the cost of fuel oil is going to more than double,”

Thats 5K for a modest home

[WakeUpAndVote]

At least she is sounding an alarm to do something now.

If I were in that position and had oil heat (I don’t have it now) I would start to look at electric baseboard and better insulation.

[Joe 6-pack]

There was a time when Maine Governors didn't whine and snivel about crises, but simply did what was necessary to "affix" them.

[dbwz]

80% of homes are heated by oil? Wow. Maybe some incentives (tax break?) for converting to natural gas or propane are in the offing.

[lormand]

Maine Food/Energy Crisis = Senators Snow and Collins

[<1/1,000,000th%]

I missed the part in the article where his solutions were presented.

[Gay State Conservative]

I owned a house for 20 years that was heated by oil.The last delivery I got before I sold it (about 4 years ago) the price was $1.69/gallon.Now it’s up to almost $5/gallon? Holy Mother of God!!!!!!

[JimRed]

Windmills generating power for electric heat would preclude the need for the oil furnace to kick on most of the time. But the liberal elites will oppose them, because they’re UGLY!

[OB1kNOb]

Maybe one of these days soon folks will wake up and realize that nuclear power plants are needed ASAP and as many as possible. In the meantime they’ll continue having these problems.

[Melinda]

I live in a neighborhood where 40 years ago, captains of industry had their summer homes. Then they were taken over by the Wallstreeters in the 90’s. The Wallstreeters have lost and found jobs many times over since then, and the latest rage is “energy” for the quick, big bucks. That's all the barometer I need to know who is doing what to the price of energy.

[WayneS]

Maine is currently considered habitable?

[Parley Baer]

“This is a human catastrophe coming at us in the state of Maine in terms of energy supply and costs”

I agree with that part and not only Maine but the whole country.

His solutions though are way off in the future if ever and are not going to solve a thing in the near future. So what do we do in the meantime?

Even this will take time but Drill, drill, drill, nuclear power, nuclear power, nuclear power.

[MrEdd]

If you build a home that costs money to heat and cool, that’s a choice, not a given. People have built homes that do not require furnaces or air conditioning to maintain a comfortable temperature (55 to 57 Fahrenheit) for thousands of years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_sheltering

There are US builders even today who specialize in them.

http://www.daviscaves.com/index.shtml

[Dog Gone]

How did anyone manage to live there prior to heating oil being refined?

I’ve got an idea. Build some nuclear power plants. Quit wasting oil on furnaces.

[Sig Sauer P220]

Maine is one of them blue states, aint it? Maybe they should tell the do nothing Dimwit Congress to stop impeding progress.

[Citizen Tom Paine]

I tend to agree with the govenor. I just saw a quote on home heating oil here at $4.65/gallon. I generally buy it in 400-500 gallons at a time. This is just for heating the house in the long, cold winter. And we have replaced the windows and hod the house insulated and sided.

[maine-iac7]

“In 1998, energy — all energy: cars, home heating and electricity — was 4 percent of the average Maine family’s budget. Today it’s 20 percent. It went from 4 percent to 20 percent in 10 years. That’s pain.” Should oil hit $300 a barrel, King said, that percentage would increase from 20 percent to as much as 50 percent of the average family budget.

Former Maine Governor Angus King“We go from pain to lethal,” he said. “We simply can’t survive that. This state and this country are not viable at that level of energy costs. If this happens, it’s all over. We won’t have an election for governor in 2020; we’ll have an election for chief park ranger, because that’s all this state will be, a large park of some kind that is largely uninhabitable.

I bought my house 17 years ago - it cost $500 to heat - now it would be over $2,000. I ain't got it. I put in a wood stove years ago, but it's getting increasingly hard for me to handle - I'm a handicapped great gramma.

Not to mention: wood in much more expensive now also, especially since I can't saw logs and split stumps.

But Obama would be proud of me - I haven't had my thermostat at 72 for years - indeed, I run at 68 max, have the heat turned off and keep door closed in the bedroom, turned off in office, useing only residual heat from dining/kitchen, and wear "extreme weather" wool socks and heavy wool sweaters, use lap robes and wool throws on my shoulders - and have got the cat used to napping on the top of my easy chair and pillows - helps keep my head warm.

But seriously, (well, all the above is true) I do not know how I can keep survivably warm this winter. If I could handle running only the wood stove, that would help a great deal...but I can't. - 20% of a soc. sec. check is a big bite...I do make a bit extra by continuing my column of 20 years - but the IRS imposes almost 16% for self-employment soc. sec., tax...

[bert]

Cold in Maine?

Perhaps they have too much Snowe?