Cap and Trade: A License Required for your Home

[Frank M. Carrio, CMI]

NOTE:
Since this bill became effective {July 2009} there have been over 3,000 changes! That is right 3,000 changes!
So.... In the next two weeks, I will be reviewing these sections to see if they have any more negative {or positive} effects on this bill.

{At MY last count the bill was 1,824 pages long! So do not call me or contact me unless you have read the ENTIRE bill!}

I took the time and trouble to read sections 202, 204, and 304 BEFORE I did a "Cut & Paste" and forwarded it to this website!
If you are truly concerned I suggest that you do the same!

If you want more information go to this website!
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2454/text

PS:
Two people have contacted me to tell me that they “checked the facts” on Snopes and Fact check and that these two websites “Debunked” the information that I have posted.
With ALL Due Respect…. I have found that some "informational" websites have their own political agenda {s} and I trust them as much as I trust a grocery store tabloid!

When this bill first came out, I got my information directly from the “Open Congress Website” listed above.
ALL of the information that I posted was on this bill but…. Like I said there have been 3,000 changes since this bill first came out!

So… Once again… If you are truly concerned, I suggest that you read the ENTIRE bill to see what if any changes have been made that make you happy or unhappy and then contact your Senator / Congressman to tell that that you are for or AGAINST this ENTIRE bill!

Originally Posted by fcarrio

Cap and Trade: A License Required for your Home

We encourage you to read the provisions of the Cap and Trade Bill that has passed the House of Representatives and being considered by the Senate. We are 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

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 initial y 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), Application of National Code to State and Local Jurisdictions, 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.

a license required for your home - Google Search

H.R. 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (GovTrack.us)
__________________

[Brian C. Hoagland]

Originally Posted by jbushart

Licensing is inevitable. Don't fight. Go with the flow.....walk to the light.....you will be safe.....

Thanks, that is really funny, totally sincerely LMAO.

[Frank M. Carrio, CMI]

MORE INFORMATION.....
There have been over 3,000 changes to this bill since it first came out!
There have been some … Behind closed doors "Good Old Boy" shady deals made.

Changes made at one, two and three in the morning!


That’s right!

• Three-in-the-morning!

Why would our elected official do that? Why?.... To include “Special Interests / PORK” in this bill!



At MY last count this bill had 1,824 pages to it.

• The information that I posted was FACTUAL at-the- time-that-I first read it!
• “Fact Checks" and other "Informational" websites have verified that. {Since then "Changes" have been made.}

More information from "Fact-Checks"

Quote Fact-Check:
A Republican aide in Congress, who didn’t want to be quoted by name, blamed the confusion on Democrats making changes to the bill in the wee hours of the morning.

The aide told FactCheck.org that the amendment limiting the labeling requirements to new homes only was brought before the House Rules Committee just after 3 a.m. …. on-the-day members of the House voted on the bill.

Those who claimed that the bill would require energy audits and labeling for existing homes were probably unaware of the new version, the aide said, adding:

"When you make changes to a bill while everyone in America is asleep, this is what happens."

NOTE:
So.... "Changes" have been made but......
I have worked on several Legislative Bills in New Hampshire. I have seen that just because the “house” takes something out of a bill does NOT mean that the Senate cannot and or will not put it back into the bill.



I have seen biased provisions taken out of a bill by the House and seen the Senate agree with the House’s decision and uphold their decision.

• I was disgusted to see that once the Bill was passed the “Committee / Board” that oversaw a bill make an “Amendment by Committee” to include the biased provisions that were taken out by either the House or the Senate!

So…. If you are concerned about the “Cap & Trade Bill” I suggest that you contact your Senator and or Congressman and make your concerns known!

[Patrick Bolliger]

Now the EPA has miraculously declared "green house" gases an environmental problem. Now it can control industry and everyday lives of people.. Laws will be introduced next.. Every one is a polluter ..We all exhale Carbon Dioxide..... We all fart... Cows fart...The world is getting warmer....... Billions to be sent to 3rd world economies.
..
Citizens of the United States. Ready to fall under control of a one world government? All this talk of Cap and trade, Global warming, environmental protocols sound so wonderful in essence is just another step to gutting this country and moving wealth from our shores to a central world control.. Laugh if you must.. You shall not laugh later.. Our freedoms are under attack all the time..

[Peter C. Russell]

I for one don't agree with this approach but I would like to see some kind of plan to reduce our dependence on oil, foreign or domestic. Remember last year when oil was at 3.50 per gallon and rising.

I think we need some sort of national plan and making existing housing stock more energy efficient is a start. It just has to be implemented correctly.

[James H. Bushart]

Many cities that have adopted the IRC already has inspections of property prior to sale, with the requirement that corrective action be taken on code defects prior to sale so that the buyer is assured an occupancy permit.

I worked for a municipality in St. Louis where buyers were actually denied permits to occupy their new homes because the seller had failed to have such an inspection, requiring the buyer to have the inspection....and having safety issues uncovered that required significant costs.

Adding energy efficiency to the code is not that big of a leap and makes a whole lot of sense. I hope to see it adopted.

[Michael Larson]

Originally Posted by jbushart

Adding energy efficiency to the code is not that big of a leap and makes a whole lot of sense. I hope to see it adopted.

For somone as opposed to licensing as you are, I wonder at your support for defacto licensing of housing.

Have you no regard for what government mandates do to the price of housing?

[Gary Farnsworth]

With repairs (windows, insulation, doors, 13 SEER HVAC) needed to a home just to sell it, owners may owe more than the home is worth, and add the cost of needed repairs, I can see owners just walking away from their home, defaulting, and then millions of empty homes will be the result.

The financial system of the U.S. is then in jeopardy.

[Michael Larson]

Originally Posted by gfarnsworth

With repairs (windows, insulation, doors, 13 SEER HVAC) needed to a home just to sell it, owners may owe more than the home is worth, and add the cost of needed repairs, I can see owners just walking away from their home, defaulting, and then millions of empty homes will be the result.

The financial system of the U.S. is then in jeopardy.

Exactly.

An unbelievable amount of housing becomes unsaleable without massive reductions in price.

Let the free market work it out and people will make their own value decisions on a property.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by gfarnsworth

With repairs (windows, insulation, doors, 13 SEER HVAC) needed to a home just to sell it, owners may owe more than the home is worth, and add the cost of needed repairs, I can see owners just walking away from their home, defaulting, and then millions of empty homes will be the result.

The financial system of the U.S. is then in jeopardy.

I'm only telling you what is already in existence and has been for years.

Building code enforcement, for those who have not actually read the IRC and IBC, includes an item called an "occupancy permit" that the jurisdiction grants to owners at the time they purchase the home. New owners require new occupancy permits...which are not granted in cases where code is not met.

This is the case in about 75 of the municipalities surrounding the City of St. Louis in what is St. Louis County.

Travel 50 miles away, and you don't even need a permit to build a hotel.

[Peter C. Russell]

I understand HERS is working with MLS to add the HERS rating onto the listing sheet.
I hear alot of people saying that this is going to add debt to our kids, it ill ruin the housing market and so on but if we don't start doing something the outcome for our children could be worse.

[Michael Larson]

Originally Posted by prussell

I understand HERS is working with MLS to add the HERS rating onto the listing sheet.
I hear alot of people saying that this is going to add debt to our kids, it ill ruin the housing market and so on but if we don't start doing something the outcome for our children could be worse.

It appears you presume much higher energy costs and I agree.

The cap and trade bill guarantees it.

Can we get a do over?

[Peter C. Russell]

Originally Posted by mlarson

It appears you presume much higher energy costs and I agree.

The cap and trade bill guarantees it.

Can we get a do over?

Hopefully it won't pass and oil will go back down to 30.00 a barrel

[Gary Farnsworth]

It should be up to the home owner whether or not they want to save money. If we spend money to save energy, the utility companies have no choice but to raise energy prices when total energy usage goes down. Not one business is in business to lose money; energy companies are no exception. Besides, more people in the world, more consumption anyway. Any energy saving thing we do will only allow that energy to go to the growing population; or to third world countries.

[gfitzgerald]

So is this a done deal in some form or another ? Just how will the Gov. handle the REO market ? The banks do not even have to get a SOE or supply the buyer with a disclosure. Will the buyer have to bring the property to code at some point in time.