Maine Gov. Janet Mills is blaming Russia for the high price of energy as Maine heads into winter.
“Energy prices are expected to remain high this winter due to continued world market volatility from the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” the governor’s office said in a “Winter Heating Season Tips and Resources” sheet that the Mills administration emailed around yesterday.
Mills does not list any other factors that may be contributing to increased energy prices, such as state and federal policies that prohibit or make it harder to produce energy in America. The claim on the fact sheet is inline with a widely ridiculed attempt by the Biden administration to cast enduring inflation in the American economy as “Putin’s Price Hike.” The White House has mostly abandoned that phrase.
To cope with high oil and gas prices, Mills suggests you seal leaky windows, track the higher prices. you’re paying, weatherize your home, give your furnace a tune up, install a heat pump, and don’t forget to clean your chimney.
In October, Maine number 2 heating oil is averaging $4.38 per gallon.
In President Joe Biden’s first week in office, he suspended oil and gas exploration leases on U.S. federal lands as part of his campaign pledge to end oil and gas production in America. His has been hostile to domestic energy production, seeking instead to quench American oil demand with supplies autocratic nations like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
The fact sheet from Mills also provides contact information for various welfare programs that will help Mainers pay for heating this winter.
