Wednesday, July 01, 2009

In Case You Thought I Was Paranoid

Waxman-Markey contains language for the EPA to regulate what it calls REEP (Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance) rules. The EPA alone will be able to determine what necessary retrofitting must be done with business AND single and multiple family homes in order to be environmentally friendly. States would be responsible for figuring out how to implement these new regulations. I'll say it again Congress voted to give regulatory power to the EPA to determine what you must do to make your home environmentally friendly before resale.

The EPA has for years been expanding it's regulatory control over the business world and it would seem has sights set on private property as well. This is an obvious expansion or companion program to those hinted at by the Sec. of Energy last month. If I'm wrong and Steven Chu just coincidentally talked about home improvements and retrofitting as an option for energy reduction a month before the climate change bill went to a vote with increased regulatory powers over homes and businesses then I'm sorry. If that's the case of course then it means that the two departments in the Obama admin. who are talking about climate related energy policy are in fact not talking to each other and are acting unilaterally to develop policy without consultation and frankly that kind of reckless behavior is just as scary as a plot would be.

So home-owners out there get ready for your EPA energy housing audit.

UPDATE: “The Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall establish goals, guidelines, practices, and standards for accomplishing the purpose stated in subsection (c) [the retrofits],”

So Chu actually has his hands in it already.