Editor’s Note: The following was submitted to
the Federal Observer earlier tonight. While all of the distraction of Hardin, MT
has been occupying many people’s minds, writings and broadcasting this past week
- business as usual has been continuing in Washington, DeCeit. What you have
here, is merely an overview. We are looking more deeply into it.
(JB)
Wow! Home owners take note & tell your friends and
relatives who are home owners!!! Beginning 1 year after enactment of the
Act, you won’t be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with
the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act.
H.R. 2454,
the “Cap & Trade” bill passed by the House of Representatives, if also
passed by the Senate, will be the largest tax increase any of us has ever
experienced. The Congressional Budget Office (supposedly non-partisan)
estimates that in just a few years the average cost to every family of four will
be $6,800 per year. No one is excluded. However, once the lower
classes feel the pinch in their wallets, you can be sure these voters get a tax
refund (even if they pay no taxes at all) to offset this new cost. Thus,
you Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class America will have to pay even more
since additional tax dollars will be needed to bail out everyone
else.
But wait. This awful bill (that no one in Congress has
actually read) has many more surprises in it.
Probably the worst one is
this: A year from now you won’t be able to sell your house.
Yes,
you read that right. The caveat is (there always is a caveat) that if you
have enough money to make required major upgrades to your home, then you can
sell it. But, if not, then forget it. Even pre-fabricated homes
(”mobile homes”) are included.
In effect, this bill prevents you from
selling your home without the permission of the EPA administrator.
To get
this permission, you will have to have the energy efficiency of your home
measured. Then the government will tell you what your new energy
efficiency requirement is and you will be forced to make modifications to your
home under the retrofit provisions of this Act to comply with the new energy and
water efficiency requirements. Then you will have to get your home
measured again and get a license (called a “label” in the Act) that must be
posted on your property to show what your efficiency rating is; sort of like the
Energy Star efficiency rating label on your refrigerator or air conditioner If
you don’t get a high enough rating, you can’t sell. And, the EPA
administrator is authorized to raise the standards every year, even above the
automatic energy efficiency increases built into the Act.
The EPA
administrator, appointed by the President, will run the Cap & Trade program
(AKA the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 ) and is authorized to
make any future changes to the regulations and standards he alone determines to
be in the government’s best interest. Requirements are set low initially
so the bill will pass Congress; then the Administrator can set much tougher new
standards every year. The Act itself contains annual required increases in
energy efficiency for private and commercial residences and buildings.
However, the EPA administrator can set higher standards at any
time.
Sect. 202: Building Retrofit Program mandates a
national retrofit program to increase the energy efficiency of all existing
homes across America.
Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Act, you
won’t be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy
and water efficiency standards of this Act. You had better sell soon,
because the standards will be raised each year and will be really hard (i.e.,
ex$pen$ive) to meet in a few years. Oh, goody! The Act allows the
government to give you a grant of several thousand dollars to comply with the
retrofit program requirements if you meet certain energy efficiency
levels. But, wait, the State can set additional requirements on who
qualifies to receive the grants. You should expect requirements such as
“can’t have an income of more than $50K per year”, “home selling price can’t be
more than $125K”, or anything else to target the upper middle class (and that’s
YOU) and prevent them from qualifying for the grants Most of us won’t get a dime
and will have to pay the entire cost of the retrofit out of our own
pockets. More transfer of wealth, more “change you can believe
in.”
Sect. 204: Building Energy Performance Labeling
Program establishes a labeling program that for each individual residence will
identify the achieved energy efficiency performance for “at least 90 percent of
the residential market within 5 years after the date of the enactment of this
Act.” This means that within five years, 90% of all residential homes in the
U.S. must be measured and labeled. The EPA administrator will get
$50M each year to enforce the labeling program. The Secretary of the
Department of Energy will get an additional $20M each year to help enforce the
labeling program. Some of this money will, of course, be spent on coming
up with tougher standards each year. Oh, the label will be like a license
for your car. You will be required to post the label in a conspicuous
location in your home and will not be allowed to sell your home without having
this label. And, just like your car license, you will probably be required
to get a new label every so often - maybe every year. But, the government
estimates the cost of measuring the energy efficiency of your home should only
cost about $200 each time. Remember what they said about the auto smog
inspections when they first started: that in California it would only cost
$15. That was when the program started. Now the cost is about $50
for the inspection and certificate; a 333% increase. Expect the same from
the home labeling program.
Sect. 304: Greater Energy
Efficiency in Building Codes establishes new energy efficiency guidelines for
the National Building Code and mandates at 304(d) that 1 year after enactment of
this Act, all state and local jurisdictions must adopt the National Building
Code energy efficiency provisions or must obtain a certification from the
federal government that their state and/or local codes have been brought into
full compliance with the National Building Code energy efficiency
standards.
This entry was posted by The
Publisher on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 10:59 PMand is filed under Rear
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