Jordan Wood is a candidate for Congress in Maine’s 2nd District.

Donald Trump’s war with Iran is creating an energy crisis hitting rural Maine harder than almost anywhere in the country. I know, because I’ve lived through this before. I was in high school during the energy crisis caused by the Iraq War. Heating oil reached nearly $5 a gallon, and gas hit a record $4.14 a gallon.

In those years, our family lived mostly paycheck to paycheck. We carpooled to school and sports, and most of what I made at my near minimum wage job in the Bates College cafeteria went straight to gas for our 1994 Subaru Legacy. When heating oil prices rose, we put on another sweater, wool socks and extra blanket. Twenty years later, too many parents are still saying, “We just can’t afford it.”

The current crisis created by the weeks-long closure of the Strait of Hormuz could be even worse than the crisis in the late 2000s. In rural Maine, there is no public transit. We’re a driving state; it’s not a choice, it’s our only option.

Maine remains the most heating-oil-dependent state in the country, with over half of our homes still burning oil to stay warm. There is no quick substitute. Families are simply going to pay more at a moment when they can least afford to. But here’s what could make this crisis worse than before: electricity.

Natural gas generates over half the electricity on the New England grid. The Strait of Hormuz closure isn’t just spiking oil prices; it’s disrupting the global natural gas market. New England’s already constrained gas supply will get squeezed further, pushing our electricity bills higher by over 55% over the last decade. Maine families are about to get hit from every direction: at the pump, at the furnace and on the electric bill.

So where is Paul LePage? He’s bragged about his close friendship with Donald Trump, but he’s said nothing about the war in Iran or alarm for how it will drive up costs in our district. LePage, who’s spent winters in Florida since leaving the Blaine House, told Fox News that a reason he’s running for Congress is “I have a friend in the White House.”

When asked to name a single policy he disagrees with Trump on, he drew a blank. The last thing our district needs is a congressman whose loyalty lies with the president, not with constituents and the people who pay the bills.

Here’s what Congress should do. First, fully fund LIHEAP, a program over 45,000 Maine households depend on for heating assistance that Donald Trump is trying to eliminate. Second, ban crude oil and liquid national gas exports for the duration of the crisis. America produces more oil and gas than any country on Earth, but we’re letting energy companies ship it overseas for more profit while prices spike here at home.

American energy should serve American families first. The people of Maine shouldn’t have to choose between filling the tank and keeping the lights on because their congressman won’t stand up to the president when he is wrong. We deserve and need a representative who will.