A sure sign of winter? The first frost advisory from the National Weather Service.

This week, temperatures are projected to drop toward freezing, a preview of frigid attractions that should put Mainers’ plans for winter heating to an early test. (Been itching to fire up your new pellet stove? Here’s your chance.)

The only thing predicted to be more frosty than New England weather is Wall Street optimism, now that its titans – Merrill Lynch, Lehman Bros., AIG – have struck financial icebergs.

Luckily for (most) of them, the government is manning the lifeboats.

Whether the government will be so generous with shivering homeowners is less than certain. New England is seeking $1 billion from Congress for the Low Income Heating Assistance Program, an appropriation sorely needed.

At this point, putting more money into LIHEAP is the solution to the troubles posed by stratospheric home heating costs. Although the state just got another $7 million for LIHEAP this week from Congress, the total available funding for Maine – $46.5 million – is still woeful.

This appropriation accounts for only $600 per recipient, or – at current prices – about 150 gallons of oil, according to Community Concepts. For even the most practical homeowner, this allowance will fall short.

Other plans are contingent upon Congress, too. A legislative task force on heating wrapped up its fact-finding last week and scheduled its next meeting to plan action for right after Congress decides its LIHEAP allocation.

This decision indicates that the amount of available LIHEAP funding is equal to the scope of the heating problem Maine faces this winter. This is not an unreasonable assumption.

Yet the notion of pouring money into LIHEAP is, as policy, unattractive. All it does is suspend attention to the basic problem – an over-dependence on oil-based heat, a situation unique to this state.

But this issue cannot be resolved during the winter. Real heating progress starts in spring.

Whatever the price of oil is come Dec. 3, the Legislature should examine programs that push diversification and efficiency in home-heating sources. This is a path, to use an overwrought phrase, away from oil dependence.

Most everything else is done. Weatherization and wood issues are being tackled. Community heating efforts are planned. Preparations for emergency warmth scenarios are being developed.

As a people, we’re more ready for winter than ever. In all ways but one – enough LIHEAP funds to really make a difference. This is where Congress should step in and make a significant allocation.

After all, government does nothing better than throw money at problems. Look at the billions being leveraged for Wall Street bailouts, for instance. Those are being justified by the slogan, “They’re too big to fail.”

Well, New England, as a region, is “too big to freeze.”