As we all know, our economy is reeling and Americans are desperately trying to recapture trillions of dollars in lost wealth. One of the essential components, if not the primary one, of this suffering is the declining value of individuals’ homes. The real estate market has plunged; this leaves many people in situations where their homes are now worth less than what is owed to the bank. This problem may get significantly worse if the American Clean Energy and Security Act (“Cap & Trade”) (HR 2454: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-2454) is approved by the Senate with the same provisions passed by the House of Representatives.
John Boehner, the House Republican Leader and an elected Representative from Ohio, posted the following information on his website Friday afternoon:
Homebuyers Beware. Trying to save up for a new home? You may have to save up a little longer for your purchase. The Democrats’ bill would dramatically increase new home costs by mandating California’s expensive new building codes for the entire nation. Immediately upon enactment, the Democrats’ bill would demand a 30 percent increase in energy efficiency for new construction. A couple of years later, the Democrats’ bill would require an additional 50 percent improvement. These numbers were chosen with no concern for cost to consumers or feasibility in implementation.
Homebuilders Beware. The Democrats’ bill imposes new mandatory regulations and civil penalties for homebuilders. If your state refuses to accept the stringent and costly California building codes, the federal government may assess penalties. And don’t get too comfortable with the new mandatory regulations because the Democrats’ bill allows for “consensus-based” codes to supplant those outlined in the bill. So, as soon as you’ve invested your hard-earned money to comply with the bill’s mandates, the rug could get pulled from underneath you. Translation? You’ll pony up more and more money.
Home Sellers Beware. Having a hard time selling your home? Here’s one more hurdle to jump: all homes sales are conditioned upon an energy audit and a new energy rating assessment and energy labeling program for your home that’s outlined in the Democrats’ bill. And if you thought you could improve your property with a fresh coat of paint and some granite counters? Think again! Now your home will be subjected to a new energy rating assessment and energy labeling program that will penalize you for older windows, original fixtures, and dated appliances. So the Democrats’ bill would bring down the value of your home!
(Emphasis mine) You can read his entire commentary by following this link: http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=134491).
Look closely at this information and think about it in the context of your next home purchase or sale. If you buy a newly constructed home, you will either pay more for the house or you will have to buy a smaller home to account for the increased penalties placed upon you and the homebuilder by this legislation. If you are in a home, especially an older home, and want to sell, you are faced with either placing it on the market for much less than what typical conditions would warrant or you will be required to spend a considerable amount of money just to meet government standards to sell. This bill actually requires you to hire a government worker and pay him to do the inspection. Further, you may spend money to comply with the new laws only to find changed standards after you wasted resources, including your valuable time and effort.
The costs alone are prohibitive; however, there is another, more sinister, problem with this bill. Namely, the government will intrude into your privacy. This bill forces you to allow a government inspector to enter your home, evaluate things such as your choice in appliances, and then tell you how much your home is worth or what you need to do to bring it up to code. This goes way beyond normal building codes and replaces your personal choices and preferences with those of a group of bureaucrats far removed from your everyday life and financial circumstances.
If you do not find these costs problematic when compared to your desire to curb “global climate change” and the alarmists’ claims for impending doom, then consider the potential impact of Cap & Trade. The best-case scenario, assuming all provisions work nearly flawlessly and the restrictions have maximum effect, is a decrease in global temperatures of .2 degrees Celsius by the year 2100 (go here for a thorough analysis of the numbers involved: http://www.heritage.org/Press/FactSheet/fs0028.cfm). Weigh the scales. It is hard to fathom that a bill which will, as President Obama stated, cause energy prices to “necessarily skyrocket” is justified by such a minuscule effect on the planet in 91 years. This becomes even more apparent when you view it in the context of an economy and housing market that are in the midst of a slump with no end in sight. Who can really afford to lose more wealth and see their home lose more value for what amounts to nothing more than bureaucrats getting a warm fuzzy feeling in their collective stomachs?
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ReplyDeleteNice write up Mike! I think most Americans, except for one of my brother-in-laws and father, will sooner or later figure out the Democrats want to impose more restrictions on Americans without regard to common sense
ReplyDeleteInteresting article recently on New Zealand dismantling their recently enacted climate bill due to the lack of scientific evidence.
ReplyDeleteI do not support additional federal taxes, but is there a way to fashion legislation that could push business and the consumer away from fossil fuels?
There are several options to push consumers away from fossil fuels, all will take some time to implement and maximize. I prefer utilizing the market's mechanisms to find alternatives; however, our government could remove some of the restrictions on nuclear power. Nuclear is clean, the materials are fully recyclable under today's technologies (so no need for waste disposal), and our military has been utilizing the technology without an accident for decades. It is feasible to use nuclear power for much of our home and business energy needs if our government removes the red tape that clutters our federal statutes and leads to years of litigation before a nuclear power plant can be constructed. This will make a huge impact since coal and natural gas make up approximately 60% of our electric output.
ReplyDeleteFinding alternatives for combustion engines will be somewhat more difficult. We have to remember that this includes more than just automobiles; things such as lawnmowers, weedeaters, boats, airplanes, and much more will have to be transitioned as well. This doesn't even include the infrastructure necessary to support it. Using fossil fuels is a necessary evil while we look for an alternative. In the meantime, government can create incentives to reach this goal (i.e. tax deductions/exemptions for promising research). Other renewable energy sources are either inefficient, considerably more expensive, and/or unreliable at this time.
For now, we need to unleash the technologies we have (primarily, nuclear energy) while we encourage private actors in the market to seek viable solutions. I do not feel that government mandates for unproven technologies are the answer to this problem.