Among other provisions that control nearly every aspect of our lives, the Waxman-Markley energy bill has a requirement that forces the entire United States to use a National Building Code similar the green building standards of California. Regardless of whether your house is in Miami, Florida or Bangor, Maine, you'll have to adhere to the standards used in a state that has one of the most moderate climates in the U.S.
The bill, according to my preliminary information, will require sellers to have an energy inspection prior to being able to sell their home. Windows, appliances and insulation will have to be inspected and approved by a government inspector and it's possible that modifications would have to be made for compliance before you can close the sale. This could cost a prohibitive amount in many cases. For example, let's say that you own an older house which you bought in 2003 for $250,000 and you now need to sell. Not only has the value fallen to or below the level of the mortgage due the the drop in prices, but you are now possibly faced with re-insulating the entire house, installing new windows, and changing the HVAC & other appliances. The total cost for this type of renovation might easily come to well over 10% of the house's value.
It begins to look as if defaulting on the mortgage might become even more common. The real tradegy is that low income families are more likely to live in older houses which won't meet the new standards and which will require major upgrades. There will probably be a provision for government assistance for those who are unable to foot the bill of any required renovations. This is just another way of telling the people who are paying their bills and trying to play by the rules that they must pay for their houses and for other people's as well.
One preliminary part of the bill has been rumored to mandate that all energy efficiency evaluations of one particular type must be performed by one single company, regardless of where in the U.S. the house is located. Wow! I'd sure like to own that company. I wonder who does?
To further compound the irony, the EPA has now released a new study which states that the average temperature of the Earth is in decline. It seems that this data has been available for some time, but is only now being released. Hmmm!
Woops! Since I wrote this, the EPA has suppressed the study again. I guess it was an inconvenient time.
Let me review the science behind this legislative effort: Oxygen and Nitrogen combined make up 99% of the earth's atmosphere. Carbon Dioxide is found at a concentration of only 339 atoms per million atoms of atmospheric gas. It's been estimated that man's contribution to this 339 atoms is only about 3%. Of course there is a great divergence of opinion about this. The interesting thing is that plants absolutely must have CO2 in order to survive, so, if we actually were successful in lowering the CO2 percentage in the air, we'd probably be faced with lower crop yields. The other thing that bothers me is that the earth has been cooling for the past 10 years or so. Add to this the documented fact that many of the surface temperature measuring stations have been placed near air-conditioning compressors or in the middle of asphalt roofs or parking lots. The data from these have been claimed to show the earth's temperature rising. Finally, the disaster predictions made by those who are afraid of man-made global warming are all based on computer models which use parameters which have not been shown to be 100% accurate. Then, there's Mars...global warming is showing up there too. I wonder if it's due to the Mars Rovers we've sent up there and not due to increased solar radiation as the sun moves through its natural cycles.
The idea of trading carbon credits is an idea which large banks and corporations seem to like. It will be a market that they can use to get rich, while the consumers who will be faced with doubled electric bills will bear the cost. It's similar to the medieval practice of Papal indulgences. A wealthy sinner could pay the Pope for an indulgence which forgave him his sin. Of course, the person he sinned against was still damaged, but the sinner wouldn't have to feel guilty. If companies purchase carbon credits and then release carbon dioxide, the organization selling the credits benefits, but the earth still gets the carbon dioxide. Hmmm.
Of course, this bill has to pass the Senate and then go to the reconciliation committee before it goes to the President to be signed into law. The White House is deviously trying to push off the Senate's consideration of the bill until sometime in September after they have voted on the horrendous, healthcare-rationing bill (if you're over 65, I've read that you'll be forced to attend classes on how to shorten your life should you get sick). By then, I expect that they think that the average citizen will have forgotten all about what Cap and Trade is going to do. The only good thing about this delay is that there's time to let your Senators know what you think about this massive bill which will make all aspects of our lives far more expensive and destroy American industry and competitiveness.
;)
;)
I love our new administration and infinite wisdom haha Just like lets put moratoriums in place and not flood the market during the good selling months and wait til the slowest month of the year to release them.