Take a look at H.R. 2454 (Cap and Trade Bill)
NickyK
has
passed the House of Representatives and being considered by the
Senate. Be
ready to join the next march on Washington ! This Congress and
whoever on their staffs that write this junk are truly out to destroy
the
middle class of the USA ....
A License required for your house...no longer just for cars and mobile
homes....
Thinking about selling your house - A look at H.R. 2454 (Cap and trade
bill) This is unbelievable!
Only the beginning from this administration! Home owners take note &
tell
your friends and relatives who are home owners!
Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Cap and Trade 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 5 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.