Former Senator John Edwards outlined a proposal yesterday in New Hampshire to lower the cost of heating oil, increase regulation of oil companies and promote energy efficiency.
Speaking at a town hall-style campaign event in Meredith, N.H., Mr. Edwards said home heating oil in the state had risen sharply to about $3 a gallon, nearly triple the cost in 2000.
To ease the financial burden for low-income families, Mr. Edwards, a Democrat from North Carolina, said Congress should tap into its heating and oil reserves and increase subsidies to the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which he said President Bush had unfairly scaled back. In February, Mr. Bush proposed an 18 percent cut in the program, which provides $2.2 billion this year to help people pay heating bills.
He proposed increasing financial assistance for a program to winterize homes, putting it on a $500 million annual budget, and supporting emergency loans for families to pay heating bills.
John Edwards
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