Associated Press: Global Cooling Requires More Government Money

Much of the U.S. is in the deep freeze. Where I live, the temperature isn’t expected to get above -5 this weekend. So, what else is new? It’s Winter.

But the Associated Press is sounding the alarm: “Rising energy costs eyed amid brutal cold snap gripping US.” I know, it’s a trite observation, but: where is global warming when you need it?

Plunging temperatures across half the country on Thursday underscored a stark reality for low-income Americans who rely on heating aid: Their dollars aren’t going to go as far this winter because of rising energy costs.

That is the subject of the article: rising energy costs.

Even before the cold snap, the Department of Energy projected that heating costs were going to track upward this winter, and many people are keeping a wary eye on their fuel tanks to ensure they don’t run out.

The burden caused by higher prices and higher energy usage is felt by all Americans, especially those who struggle to stay warm.

It’s interesting that liberals are suddenly concerned about energy costs. Where were they when President Obama’s Secretary of Energy said that he wanted gasoline prices in the U.S. to equal those in Europe, $9 a gallon? Where were they when Russia and its allies in the U.S. environmental movement were trying to suppress fracking, the source of natural gas that most Americans use to heat their homes?

It isn’t hard to understand what is going on here. The AP sees an opportunity to bash President Trump, fairly or unfairly:

Despite the cold, there was some good news for recipients of federal aid from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. President Donald Trump released nearly $3 billion, or roughly 90 percent, of the funding in October after previously trying to eliminate the program.

And, of course, the solution–as always–is government largesse.

The AP says that in the short term, energy prices have risen:

This winter, energy costs were projected to grow by 12 percent for natural gas, 17 percent for home heating oil, 18 percent for propane and 8 percent for electricity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

But energy prices in general have been going down in recent years, not up, thanks to aggressive resource development that has universally been opposed by liberals like those at the AP. This chart shows natural gas prices since 1990:

Certainly nothing about current gas prices constitutes an emergency. Heating oil prices have spiked up a little this Winter, but remain well below their level for most of the Obama administration:

It is interesting to see the AP, usually a shill for the global warming lobby (i.e., the government), waxing hysterical over Winter:

On Thursday, cold weather records were set from Arkansas to Maine, and the cold air will linger through the weekend, reaching as far south as Texas and the Florida Panhandle through the weekend.

In New Hampshire, the cold set a record for the day of minus 34 (minus 37 Celsius) atop the Northeast’s highest peak, Mount Washington, where a video was posted showing a weather observer emptying a pitcher of boiling water into the air, where it immediately turns to snow.

In the Midwest, temperatures in Minneapolis aren’t expected to top zero (minus 18 Celsius) this weekend, and it likely will be in the teens (minus 11 Celsius to minus 7 Celsius) when the ball drops on New Year’s Eve in New York City.

It was so cold officials in New Jersey canceled a New Year’s Day polar bear plunge, in which swimmers dash into the Atlantic Ocean.

A winter storm warning was in effect for much of Montana, calling for significant snowfall followed by dangerously cold temperatures as 2017 comes to an end.

On the Left, it is acceptable to acknowledge cold weather as long as the point is to demand more government spending. All of this will be forgotten when Summer rolls around and the temperature rises again. Then, more government spending (and higher taxes, too) will be needed to ward off the scourge of global warming.

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