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On Wednesday, former Vice President Al Gore appeared as the guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to discuss his new book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, and field questions from the famously satirical host.

Gore is known for his 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, an alarming look at the progressions of global warming and how humans are responsible both for the destruction of our atmosphere and for coming up with a solution.

On The Daily Show, Gore told Stewart, “We have all the tools we need to solve this – the only thing missing is political will.”Stewart, who shelved his typically comedic interrogation for smart, pointed questions, asked about the disconnect between the dire nature of the situation and our world’s slow, inefficient response: “Has the urgency of the language taken away from the message of the solutions?”

The urgency, Gore said, is no joke. There are some steps that have been taken, such as the development of a “super grid” that will transport solar energy across the US. But, he said, political cooperation, public participation and support from Big Oil is still missing.

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The Ohio office of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) recently adjusted its qualifying guidelines so that more people can have access to home heating help this winter. According to WSAZ.com, the change was sparked by the number of jobless Ohio residents unable to purchase heating oil and other utilities.

Emergency assistance through the state’s Winter Crisis Program is effective from November 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010. Homeowners facing a disconnection of their electric and/or gas utility service and those who have less than 25 percent of home heating fuel in their tanks may qualify. The total household income of an applicant must be at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.

While LIHEAP is a federally funded program, each state has different income qualifications. If you’re struggling with heating oil bills this season, it’s best to familiarize yourself with the program and consider inexpensive, DIY home projects such as weather stripping that will reduce your utility bills.

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Despite all the hoopla and hope surrounding the upcoming climate change conference in Copenhagen, the Associated Press reported yesterday that the chance of a binding treaty emerging from the meeting now seems highly unlikely.

Though UN chief Ban Ki-moon called climate change “the leading geopolitical and economic issue of this century,” expectations for the conference have been downgraded in the past few weeks for more than one reason. First, there’s been no legislative progress in the US as debate over carbon caps continue to divide the Senate. Second, there’s the conflict between developed countries and developing countries over whether developed nations should be held to stricter standards because of their historical responsibility for emitting greenhouse gases.

Now all that’s likely to come out of Copenhagen is a political agreement to reach certain goals and to commit to climate law in the future. The initial plans were to create and ratify a legally binding treaty, though at this point, any treaty will likely be negotiated continuously for the next year or so and could come into existence at some point during that time, ideally before 2011.

That the potential outcome of this important meeting is being reduced, essentially, to non-binding rhetoric is not entirely unexpected. As we’ve previously reported on HeatingOil.com, the success of the conference was largely dependent on whether or not the US could get its act together and pass its own climate legislation beforehand. Alden Meyer, policy director at the Washington-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said the US would have to make its case at Copenhagen for an extension. “It comes down to trust. How much can the U.S. be trusted to deliver, particularly given the Kyoto experience,” he told the AP.

Additionally, developing nations such as China (the biggest polluter of Earth-warming emissions) and India refuse to budge on their stance that they should not have to comply with carbon reduction targets.

While political agendas continue to clash, the scientific findings behind climate change call for action as urgently as ever. Scientists say industrial countries should reduce emissions by 25–40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, but targets announced so far have been below the low point of that range. The climate legislation currently being tossed around in Congress would only reduce US emissions by about 4 percent below 1990 levels.

Many world leaders and diplomats are not too pleased with postponing a new climate treaty.

“This cannot be an excuse for the world not to get an answer to the climate problem,” said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.

(image: M. Rickard via flickr.com)

According to the Maine Public Broadcasting Network, the average cash price for heating oil across the state inched upward by one cent over the past week to $2.56 a gallon.

In a statement, OIES Director John Kerry said, “Crude oil prices have been rising over the last two weeks as optimism in the equities market increased and the value of the dollar decreased, pulling energy markets upward against the tide of market fundamentals.”

Last week, Kerry also attributed the rise to tensions in Nigeria between the government and rebel groups, which can have a meaningful impact on your home heating oil prices. However, as HeatingOil.com reported, the situation in Nigeria—holder of the largest known oil reserves in Africa—is improving, which could lead to stable output and keep prices down heading into the winter season.

(image: StevensonPhotography via flickr.com)

Big Oil isn’t the only industry trying to stop climate change legislation. As the Miami Herald reported on Monday, the agriculture industry “is likely to have a central place in the debate on the bill later this year about the short-term costs of acting to curb climate change - and the costs of failing to address the long-term risks.”

Many farmers – concentrated in the Midwest – have joined a letter writing campaign started in October by the American Farm Bureau attempting to persuade senators to vote against the climate bill. This effort to oppose carbon caps sheds light on a group that stands to be big losers or big winners depending on how the climate bill restricts emissions and affects the price of farming necessities such as fuel, electricity and natural gas-based fertilizers.

The irony, of course, is that agriculture stands to be one of the first and heaviest hit industries if calamitous global warming predictions prove accurate. A comprehensive, federal report released in June called “Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States,” warns of a harsh future for farmers if no action is taken. According to the report, high temperatures will impair plan growth and yields, while droughts and overpopulation will only add to the burden.

With that in mind, it appears that the benefits of a climate bill will most likely outweigh the initial costs, a sentiment that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack expressed in a written testimony last week. Though the price of fuel will rise, he highlighted provisions in the climate bill that would prevent fertilizer price increases before 2025.

Senators from agriculture-heavy regions are mostly against the bill. Senator Kit Bond (R-MO), said, “The huge taxes on carbon would be devastating to Midwest farmers.” Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, the Agriculture Committee’s ranking Republican, dismissed the bill as “bringing economic pain with no benefit.”

Part of farmers’ concern over climate legislation is skepticism of global warming predictions, as they have not seen first-hand evidence of drastic changes in climate. However, scientists are quick to point out that the effects of greenhouse gas emissions manifest over a long period of time, and seasonal weather patterns are not necessarily representative of the long-term warming trend.

Not all farmers oppose climate legislation outright. One Missouri farmer, Richard Oswald, supports a mandatory cap on emissions and a trading scheme for pollution permits, as long as farmers’ concerns are met. As the chairman of the board of the Missouri Farmers Union, which is part of the National Farmers Union, he supports farmers’ involvement in shaping an effective and fair bill.

Mark Allen, president of W.H. Riley & Sons. (image: Taunton Gazette/Charles Winokoor via wickedlocal.com)

The rollercoaster of oil market volatility doesn’t just affect heating oil consumers. Home heating companies feel the pinch, too, and more than a dozen saw their demise in the wake of the 2008-2009 winter season. High summer prices, broken lock-in contracts and the economic meltdown have made it difficult of late for companies to stay afloat.

In exploring what makes a heating oil company better equipped to weather hardship, we found an article from WickedLocal.com on W.H. Riley & Son, a successful, family-run home heating business in Taunton and North Attleboro, Mass.

W.H. Riley & Son’s president, Mark Allen, upholds a family business.  In 1873, Allen’s great-great-great grandfather, William H. Riley, teamed up with his son, Elmer, and started a wood fuel and construction business. Today, Allen’s sons, Matthew and Jonathan, will carry the business to its seventh generation of being family owned and operated. The longevity of the company is remarkable alone, but especially so because of the brutal oil market and changes in fuel infrastructure since the 19th century.

So what made W.H. Riley and Son less susceptible to the massive swings in oil prices over the past couple of years? The difference between this year’s prices and last year’s is remarkable: Heating fuel costs are about 36% lower than this time last year in New Hampshire.

The answer is diversification. Allen says that today, fuel oil sales account for just above 75% of his business. As time went on and technology progressed, the company added coal, oil, diesel, propane, and recently, AC equipment. Eight hundred of his current customers use kerosene in their mobile homes. He’s also in the business of supplying gas-powered fireplace logs, which are often a fixture in new homes.

Allen told Wicked Local that demand is down, and not just on a year-to-year basis. In 1973, his average customer bought and used 1,200 gallons of fuel a year. Today the number is closer to 800 gallons. However, those numbers may be skewed by the fact that furnaces today are remarkably more efficient that those of the past, and therefore don’t require as much fuel.

The next few years could be hard for both heating fuel customers and the companies. After a tumultuous economic year, many consumers will find it hard to cover the expense of keeping warm. As we’ve previously recommended, weatherizing projects for your home are a cost-effective way to lower your utility bills and create a hedge against the volatile oil market.