1. United States
2. N.C.
3. Letter

I urge you to support an emergency $3 billion increase in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), funded by a temporary $3 billion tax on oil companies’ excess profits. Families should not have to choose between heating their homes and paying for food, medicine, or rent. The unforced error that is the Trump's illegal Iran war has sharply disrupted energy markets. A bipartisan group of lawmakers reported that heating oil prices had risen about 60 percent since the war began, and households relying on heating oil could pay roughly $600 more this winter than last. In some places, the reported average price reached more than$6/gallon. These costs land hardest on older adults, low-wage workers, and families with no practical way to reduce essential heating needs. The strain extends beyond heating. Higher diesel prices raise the cost of transporting food and goods, while energy bills already pressure household budgets. Recent reporting also found that major oil companies’ earnings surged amid wartime prices; Exxon reported $14.5 billion in quarterly profits, Shell $9.8 billion. and Chevron $12.1 billion. A carefully designed, temporary levy on extraordinary profits can help return some of this windfall to the households bearing the costs. Please pair the LIHEAP increase with a $3 billion windfall profits tax on oil companies and direct the revenue to states before winter. Ensure assistance reaches the lowest-income households first, while allowing states to help working families who earn too much to qualify under current rules but still cannot manage rising bills. LIHEAP provides direct help with home energy costs, and timely funding matters when families need fuel now, not months later. Avoid a weak windfall profits tax that would be just a figleaf over the oil companies’ enormous profits. No symbolic measures: make the tax transparent and strong enough to raise the necessary $3 billion, with proceeds dedicated to household energy assistance. This is an immediate relief measure, not a substitute for long-term energy security. Expanding renewable sources with battery storage will reduce future fuel-price shocks because their fuel costs are not tied to global oil markets. There is no Straits of Hormuz for wind or solar. But families need help this winter. Please act before heating season deepens the hardship.