More Information at link The Federal Observer Thinking about selling your house? - A look at H.R. 2454 (Cap and trade bill) 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.
Well, I just read the actual Act, Section 202 as quoted above and it doesn't say that anywhere. This section is about raising energy standards, just like they raise electrical, plumbing and other standards as time goes on. It also establishes a program (REEP) to achieve these standards by retrofitting older buildings. It only requires this on federal public housing and section 9 rental assistance properties. Others can apply to be part of the program. Ordinary home and business owners are not required to retrofit anything in this section. This story is bogus. Read it right here in the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. Bogus. This is not a CBO estimate! Politifact.com has exposed this 6 months ago. The bill says nothing of the kind. The link to the bill is above. See for yourselves. Nope. Mid-level government administrators are not authorized to change federal laws. Where does it say this? Where does the bill say this. Not every blog on the internet is true. These are tired old accusations from a chain letter that went around about a year and a half ago and has been thoroughly debunked on the net. One only has to look for it. People believe what they want to believe.
Federal Issue Information: Energy Efficiency and Climate Change Energy Efficiency and Climate Change - Issue Summary What is the fundamental issue? Pending before Congress is climate change legislation that includes energy efficiency provisions for commercial and residential buildings. Congress has been debating ways to limit the U.S.’s contribution of heat-trapping gases (including carbon dioxide (CO2)) to the atmosphere which scientists say could warm the earth and lead to more extreme weather, exacerbating geopolitical and economic tensions around the globe. Meantime, the EPA is moving forward with regulations to reduce CO2 emissions from automobiles and buildings under the Clean Air Act. I'm a Realtor®. What does this mean to my business? If Congress or the EPA were to impose mandatory federal energy efficiency requirements, property owners’ ability to sell their home or building without having to first conduct energy audits and improve the heating and cooling system, windows, insulation or lighting would be at risk.
Save this thead along with all of what I have said since the administration took office. I am not saying everything is true and correct but one thing that I do know is when government start enforcing laws whether through taxation or anything else there are always unintended consequences. You know have to have your cars inspected for emissions in most of the dense areas of the country. There is no doubt in my mind that this is going to happen with houses and its probably true you won't be able to sell unless it passes. Take all of these bills from this administration. They are meaningless from this congress and administration. They will soon put the doc fix back in the health care bill since they have passed it. These bills are what they always seem as written. Hell, most of these people who sine these bills don't read them anyway because it doesn't effect them. It doesn't effect them because some serve until the day they die and others are rich or both.
Interesting, thanks for posting. I can hardly wait to see what it looks like if it passes the senate.
