Suggestion: Search up Energy Share programs that help people stay warm in the winter. Katherine and I are making a $10,000 donation to Energy Share of Montana today.
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This is a great idea, but can you add to this a letter to your legislature explaining that you have to fund stuff like this because they're not doing their job.
There is a federally funded program, LIHEAP, which is administered by local agencies. Not commenting on whether it's appropriately funded, but it exists. In my area (Illinois) I have never heard of a qualified applicant getting denied due to funding (in my role as a legal aid attorney).
I’d really love to own a home so I could put solar panels on it, start a farm in the back, learn to deck it out with everything we need to live and just homestead… I know that’s not what you said but … uhh… thanks for listening ✌️
if you need help & its in this vein, I think it could be appropriate 💜 I know it's hard to figure out how to get needs met without feeling like you're Interrupting or selfish. I hope you stay warm & safe
Buying heating oil or gas for your neighbors sounds like a good thing, but what they REALLY need is more efficient housing. For the price of one year of heating fuel, one can improve one's house to cut that fuel cost by 30% for many years.
I hear the lament that "but they need help NOW" every year.
Just a thought that in Canada it makes sense for a couple to group their donations and claim them on one of their returns. This would artificially reduce this % if couples gave as a family unit.
That’s likely tru but StatsCan only shows up to 2022. 2021 was a peak at $11.8B but 2022 still had 11.4B reported. In 2018 it was only $9.9B so the last # of years has shown growth overall.
Totally unrelated, but i was watching this video, and man, why did you talked SO SLOW back then? If you watch it now in x1.5 sounds like a modern vlogbrothers video 🤣.
In Montana we have a weird hypocrisy where we hate government handouts despite receiving (roughly) 10 times more federal funding than we pay in federal taxes
Some states also have EaP programs funded in different ways, if you are struggling make sure to check out energy assistance programs if they exist in your state.
In Massachusetts we have the Mass-Save program. They do free energy audits and offer financial assistance to upgrade heating systems. 10 or so years ago I was very poor, and my furnace went. They replaced it at no cost to me as long as I remained in the home for 5 years. Forever grateful to them.
If you haven't dug into it yet, you may be interested in investigating state public service commissions for electric utilities. They're the state agencies tasked with setting rates, and protecting ratepayers. #energysky can be helpful.
Can campaign donations to particular PUC candidates and such be a good use for extra funds someone might have that they'd like to put towards getting climate action and helping to protect stressed populations of people in your opinion?
Montana isn't purple anymore at least partially because during covid, people flocked here from out of state. Lots of California and Texas conservatives fleeing the border crisis. So Montana has become even darker red over the past 4-5 years.
The first impression I give is ???? So I don’t know what to do with that.
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been told “I just can’t figure you out” I’d have WAY more than two nickels. But it’s still weird it happened that many times.
Thank you for your generosity. Sadly, greedy energy companies are the ultimate recipients of such donations as they threaten to shut off life sustaining utility services to poor people unless charities pay their bills.
Maybe don’t tell people how much you’re donating. It makes you sound like braggadocious self fellating tool. Not saying you are being a tool. I’m sure your motives are genuine. It’s very good of you to donate to the less fortunate. Thank you. Just optics
You need more oil, natural gas and nuclear. Maybe even more coal while you’re at it. Cheaper energy is always beneficial. There’s almost infinite demand for energy.
Wish I could afford $10 to donate to anybody other than myself, and my costs are far from exorbitant, quite to the contrary in fact. And now I'm facing down losing the economy to supply and/or afford asthma meds which literally keep me alive, cuz of the Orangutan Messiah. Yay America
We live in a 1950s house with awful 1950s electric heating. The state of Styria is paying for us to replace it with a geothermal heat pump. I am so grateful for programs like these that help us stay warm without going into debt!
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I hear the lament that "but they need help NOW" every year.
Changing the world with one cause a time
If you haven't dug into it yet, you may be interested in investigating state public service commissions for electric utilities. They're the state agencies tasked with setting rates, and protecting ratepayers. #energysky can be helpful.
But it's not looking good here for clean/cheap energy.
https://montanafreepress.org/2024/12/13/jury-concludes-gerrymandering-wasnt-primary-intent-as-legislature-drew-utility-commission-districts/
Someday I want to be cool enough to just have two years at a community college in cash to just yeet at cool people.
It also says stick to reality.
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been told “I just can’t figure you out” I’d have WAY more than two nickels. But it’s still weird it happened that many times.
(Have you lived here long enough that when you see "bsky" next to everyone's username you automatically think Big Sky?)