200 deaths a day due to fuel poverty - what a way to treat the old

[malaise]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/oct/22/older-people-cold-energy-bills
<snip>

Two hundred people, most of them elderly, will die in Britain of cold-related diseases every day this winter, according to calculations by Britain's leading advocacy group for old people, Age UK.

"Sweden, Germany, Finland – these are the countries to emulate," said Kohler. "Partly because local government is organised in a way that is more powerful and civic in its awareness of the impact of cold, and housing stock is very much better built and insulated. Although energy prices per unit are 50% higher in Sweden than in the UK, the average bill is 30% lower."

"The cost of heating an adequately sized house is estimated to be £1,300 a year," said Kohler. "So if you are on pension credit of £7,000, you are very fuel-poor indeed."

He added that the prime minister's recommendation for consumers to shop around was "inappropriate for many elderly people – it presumes either internet access people don't have and hours waiting on the phone for people who cannot be understood".
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Fuck the 1% of this planet, fuck the banks, fuck the corporations and fuck the politicians they bought.

[Quantess]

1. I live in a centrally heated apartment in sweden.

It's always warm in here, even though people are starting to put on their snow tires.

[malaise]

2. Looks like the disaster capitalists

would prefer to let those who should be in comfort freeze to death.
The old are now as expendable as the athletes.

[FarCenter]

3. The methodology is pretty dubious

The argument is that old people die at a higher rate in the winter months than in the summer months. Winter temperatures are colder than summer temperatures. Ideally, heating would equalized indoor temperatures in winter and summer months. Therefore the excess deaths in the winter must be due to inadequate heating. Therefore they must be due to a lack of fuel.

This is most likely bogus, since there are other factors, such as dryness of indoor air. In fact, the argument that the Scandinavian and German "excess deaths" are lower because of better insulation makes one wonder whether the real difference is higher humidity in better sealed homes.

Another factor is that people stay indoors and are more crowded together which allows propagation of flu, colds, and other airborne infectious diseases.

The lack of critical thinking skills is evident in this piece.

[Doremus]

4. Older people are more susceptible to extremes in temperature.

That is a fact. Yet you leaped right over it in favor of the bizarre thesis that winter deaths in the elderly are caused by 'dryness of indoor air'and/or crowding.

Have you notified the authorities? Forget HEAP --- give 'em free humidifiers instead and save a shitload of $$$!