Think it's going to be a long, cold winter for a lot of people. Scary.

FIREWOOD
"Mainers who buy firewood are paying more as they stock up this summer and many are finding short supplies, as well.
Pete Lammert of the Maine Forest Service warns that most firewood dealers are hustling just to fill orders from regular customers. He says customers who used to buy one cord are buying two, and those who used to buy two are buying four.
High oil prices are driving the push to heating alternatives including firewood and wood pellets. Prices are topping $200 a cord." LINK

NATURAL GAS
"I'm afraid we're headed for another catastrophic year, in terms of natural gas prices," he said.
Natural gas futures have risen 97 percent in the past year, following crude oil prices. For residential gas customers, "That is going to hit home in December and January," Popowsky said." LINK

HOME HEATING OIL
"New Englanders struggling this summer to pay gas prices topping $4 a gallon should brace for more bad news — home heating oil costs next winter are expected to hit record highs.
One retail heating oil dealer says she expects a typical household delivery that cost $500 last winter will climb to at least $850 this winter.
"It's going to be staggering," said Northboro Oil Co. owner Sandra Farrell in telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It's going to be a real problem going into this winter for everyone unless something changes."
Farrell, whose family has owned and operated the Northborough, Mass., business since 1953, said some dealers are talking about prices in the $4.89 per gallon range for the coming winter, about $2 more per gallon than last winter. An average household usually needs four deliveries from December to March, she said." LINK

ELECTRIC HEAT"Residential customers of Public Service of New Hampshire will see electric rates go up 5.7 percent, due to the skyrocketing prices for energy resources." LINK

SHRUB
And how is our President addressing this???

"State Sen. Marc Pacheco, a Democrat of Taunton, says "it's really impacting working families dramatically. We're facing a crisis situation."
Pacheco criticizes the Bush administration for proposing a 22% cut in federal home heating assistance this winter.
"We shouldn't be cutting energy assistance for the needy and for the working poor at a time when home heating oil costs are skyrocketing like they've never done before," says Pacheco." LINK

No snow, no money? If you think global warming is too expensive to fight, how much will it cost to give up?

The animals are dying, but economically, people are hurting with this screwy weather. From winter sports to winter wear, the market isn't there.

"Ontario's largest ski resort has laid off 1,300 workers after closing down its ski operations in the middle of the winter season for the first time in the resort's 65-year history." LINK

"At the height of a typical season, about 1,200 people work on Liberty Mountain [Pennsylvania]. This year, the resort isn't hiring the normal cadre of part-time and seasonal workers, and even the 60 regular employees aren't putting in a full week." LINK

" Retailers are calling it the Coat Crisis of 2006. They are even starting to grumble about the first "global warming Christmas." LINK

""It's not just this industry," said Joe Gagne, owner of Roosevelt Trail Nursery and Garden Center. "It's incredible how much the economy in Maine is based on Mother Nature and snow. But a season with little snow can be difficult on small businesses. Gagne employs 11 people and has about nine trucks used for plowing as well as delivering goods. He said there are a lot of overhead costs." LINK

"William Strange, a professor with the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and an expert in urban economics, said the effects of climate change on municipal budgets have been largely overlooked.
"It's a very interesting issue and I don't know how local governments would budget for that," he added." LINK

Tribute

Dead poet in Maine
ignored winter's sad absence
and fell through thin ice.
LINK

No ice-fishing for you!

"Flowers are growing in Boston, for crying out loud," said Tim Jackson, the owner and manufacturer of Jack Traps ice fishing traps in Monmouth. "It's a little scary. The forecast for next week doesn't look good either. There's cold air up there (over Canada), but it just can't get here."

"Even as far north as Greenville Junction, where Kilburn works at the Indian Hill Motel, ice fishing's annual opening day is not just in jeopardy, it's already lost. Only the east and west coves on Moosehead Lake boast any ice, and none of what's there is safe, according to Kilburn. The entire middle of Moosehead remains open.
"I've been here all my life, and I don't ever remember seeing it like this," Kilburn said.
Perhaps what's most eerie is that even Moosehead isn't ready for ice fishing. Traditionally frozen and snow-covered at this point in the winter, there are precious few traces of either in Greenville."

"It's been an incredible season," said Butch Roberts, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Gray. "I moved my lawn on the 22nd."