Meet the retrofit police
I noted last week on Twitter that if Cap and Tax becomes law, Americans will need to prepare for the Retrofit Police, the Lightbulb Brigade & Obam-odometers.
Jimmie Bise takes an in-depth look at the retrofitting provisions of the House cap-and-trade bill — Section 304.
Read the whole deal here.
Excerpt:
Here’s what the Democrats have planned for you. The program requires that states label their buildings so that we can all know how efficient every building (that includes residential and non-residential buildings) is and it requires that the information be made public. To that end, the bill suggests a number of circumstances under which the states could inspect a building, including:
(A) preparation, and public disclosure of the label through filing with tax and title records at the time of–
(i) a building audit conducted with support from Federal or State funds;
(ii) a building energy-efficiency retrofit conducted in response to such an audit;
(iii) a final inspection of major renovations or additions made to a building in accordance with a building permit issued by a local government entity;
(iv) a sale that is recorded for title and tax purposes consistent with paragraph (8);
(v) a new lien recorded on the property for more than a set percentage of the assessed value of the property, if that lien reflects public financial assistance for energy-related improvements to that building; or
(vi) a change in ownership or operation of the building for purposes of utility billing; or
(B) other appropriate means.
Pay close attention to (iii), (iv), and (vi) because those hit you right where you live. What that’s saying is the state will be empowered to inspect your home if you want to 1) renovate your house in any way that requires a building permit, 2) sell your house, or 3) change the name of the person responsible for any utility bill.
By now, if you haven’t swallowed your tongue and are in need of medical attention, you’re probably wondering if there’s a penalty for not being in compliance with the new efficiency ratings. The answer is no, and yes. Here’s where the bill gets really sneaky. So far as I can tell, there is no direct penalty if your house does not meet the bill’s target. However, it does require that the number of buildings inspected by the state meet certain percentage targets and if they do not, the state loses out on a significant portion of the money it could get from Washington. In other words, the bill demands certain things from the states, but ties funding for those demands to compliance with the demands.
Melissa Clouthier probes further. And she’s right:
Your house is not your own.
See what others have said
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Trackbacks
- Does Obama Just Not Get It? « NEOAVATARA
- Meet the retrofit police : My Blog, My Life, My World
- Palin-Beck 2012? « Teh Resistance Blog
- Cap-N-Trade: Your House Is Not Your Own–UPDATED « Blog Entry « Dr. Melissa Clouthier
- Right Wing News
- Yet Another Reason to Hate Cap-and-Trade : The Sundries Shack
- The Impact of Cap and Trade Hits Close To Home | Axis of Right
- Obamarama in Russia! Let’s enjoy Barack’s gaffes, mistakes, blunders and the other stupid stuff « Jim Blazsik
- Obama and the Economy (cartoon) « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Plumb Bob Blog » Read It and Weep
- The Obama Limbo! How Low Can It Go… BHO’s Approval Rating Has Dropped Another 3 Points to -8 « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Tax Dollars Down the Dumper for Turtles: $3.4 Million of Stimulus Money Slotted for Building 1 Turtle Tunnel « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Section 304: Global Warming Bill Tyranny in Your Home « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Op-Ed Cartoons: Al Gore’s Global Warming Scam « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Op-Ed Cartoons: Al Gore’s Global Warming Scam « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Cap and Trade Shocker: Will Americans Be Forced by Commerce Sec. Gary Locke & Democrats to Pay for China’s Global Warming Emissions? « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Sen. Jim Inhofe Asks the $64,000 Question: Why Are We Debating This Meaningless Climate Bill? (video) « Frugal Café Blog Zone
- Rasmussen Report: American Majority, 72%, Against Obama Controlling Their Light Bulbs « Frugal Café Blog Zone
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Who gets to decide what I “NEED”. YOU?
OBAMA??
GORE???
So I can take it that you are fully in favor of developing domstic energy sources?
3 kids can fit in the back of a hybrid civic.
Why do you hate the planet?
The difference being that Reagan engaged from a position of power. He made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.
So you’re contributing to overpopulation, helping destroy the planet and all but donating money to Al Qaeda.
Shame on you, RSS, shame on you.
And one of the vehicles I drive is a Mercedes diesel, made over two decades ago, that gets 30 mpg. Think of how conservative that is…
How much energy do you think goes into building a car?
HMMMMMM….????
Your conservation efforts and your part to cut back are meaningless! They are eco-follies.
Even if everyone in the world equaled your efforts, CO2 emissions wouldn’t be reduced to pre-2000 levels.
No I disapproved of him absolutely, regardless of his ideological stripes. I don’t know how anyone can stand up for a guy who sold weapons to the ayatollah to fund our proxy torture wars in Central America, while taking a blind eye to the crack cocaine that was flooding our cities as a result of those wars.
So, just like Algore, everybody else needs to be inconvenienced but you.
None of that matters. What matters is that he does enough to make him feel pompous.
And any change would be obviated by a volcano burping…
not erupting…
just burping.
We lost the country when we passed abortion “rights.” But I agree with your sentiments!
As blatant a lie as you’ve ever posted on this board.
Red State Stooge: You mean like
?
Airplane parts are weapons?
you’re ok with people being tortured by communists like ortega and chavez though…its only resisting them that is ‘torture’ right.
Methinks RSBigot’s true…which is to say hypocritical…colors are showing.
What a wonderful demonstration.
corkie: Drop an airplane wheel on someone’s head and they are dead!
Har!
Aren’t you expecting a lil’ guy?(congrats if grandsonofdy has already entered the world). 3 little kids means 3 car seats, which will not fit in anything that gets better than 25 mpg. Fortunately we’re getting a wagon once our lease expires this year.
this is just idiotic. the drug dealers came up with crack, its more addictive, more potent, and more profitable…its free enterprise at work.
‘the result of those wars’ you have to be a left-wing stooge to believe something like that…unable to think for yourself.
I remember back in the 80s when the environmentalists were lamenting the seagrass growth in Florida Bay and the decline of many fish species because of it. Come to find out it was because hurricanes periodically pass over and clear out the grass, but there had been none for over 10 years.
the democrats didn’t want to fight communism in central america, preferring to give them over to communist tyrants, so God knows how many more could suffer and die…just like they did in Vietnam…when they sold out our allies, and our servicemen that died, so that millions more could be slaughtered…
you libs have blood on your hands.
Both are already here, along with my wifes sisters little boy, yes thats 3 INFANTS in the house. ALL 3 can fit in the back seats, if you try real hard.
It seems like you can talk the talk but not walk the walk.
RSS – you may want to rethink this.
It serves the Statist’s agenda to keep us harping on class inequality. When there is none.
RSS brings up ‘terrorism’ when it suits him. When it fits into the agenda at hand (in this case something called ‘foreign oil’), it’s ok. When it involves us sending tanks & troops into Iraq etc, it’s not ok.
As long as we keep thinking that turning back our thermostats allows some poor tarpaper shack dweller in Chicago to have heat, then all is well.
Riiiight.
This environmental religion they practice is all about hating our own race.
They will kill many people. They know it, and don’t care.
They will lower the standard of living in this country, if they succeed. They know it, and don’t care.
They will make people miserable. They know it, and don’t care.
They will destroy millions of jobs. They know it and don’t care.
We deserve to be killed off as a species. Read their “thinkers”.
None if this is a mystery.
this will be another disaster like DDT…where more people will die…although with DDT, the dirty little secret is that was mostly ‘children of color’ that died…and the libs were fine with that…ala margaret sanger and darwin..
RSS, stop for a moment. Forget that you and I disagree politically and just listen for a second.
If you look over your posts you’ll find that you never answer a point anyone makes to you, you never actually defend your point of view.
A typical exchange with you goes like this:
-RSS asserts Proposition A
-Someone else says Proposition A is
incorrect
-RSS responds by asserting Proposition B
What you just said to me is a prime example.
1)You said conservatives only preach to the choir
2)I said Reagan’s 49 state landslide disproved that notion
3)You responded by saying Reagan isn’t conservative
4)I said that assertion flies in the face of what the man’s friends and enemies have labeled him for 30 years
5)You respond with some boilerplate liberal crap about how you don’t like Reagan
You said nothing to defend your assertion that Reagan wasn’t a Conservative, and by extension you have no defense of your original assertion that conservatives only preach to the choir.
The reason you will never change anyone’s mind here is because you are incapable of articulating and defending a coherent position.
Now, of course I don’t expect you to read this and change your ways. I think at your core you are a deeply unserious person with an aversion to actual thought and persuasion. Hopefully though someone else will read this and take a useful lesson from it, making the time I took to post it less than a complete waste.
Indeed; Remember Cameroon, 1986?
Well, our species did produce democrats, thus must be flawed. Mutants perhaps.
You mean like this?
You need to act like you know.
Of course U.S. drug dealers have their share of blame in the crack mess. But the fact is that they wouldn’t have any cocaine without smugglers, who included those who we were funding in the 80s, and whose side hustle we had plenty of knowledge of at the time.
thats the left-wing playbook…they cannot defend their position(s) because that would take intelligence…and all libs can do is parrot talking points…if they could think for themselves they wouldn’t be libs…
Didn’t I say that Reagan talked to our enemies, ran up a huge government debt, and granted widespread amnesty? What a RINO!
JF: I took something from it — a great delight in watching you spank the Red State Stooge.
Oops, link didn’t work. Like this.
Does that mean I should quit waiting for a response to the points I posted?
Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh
And I was so hopeful about being edumacated.
Well then, thank God we had a Democrat in the White House all through the 90’s and the Cold War ended. That surely put the drug smugglers out of business.
RSS seems egar to divert from the topic at hand to drugs in the 80’s. (like reagan could have stoped it)
I wonder why?
That was part of your original assertion, not a defense of it.
Thanks for proving my point.
sonofdy–I dunno; I was too busy taking drugs in the 80s
Red State Skeptic,
1. Don’t you dare think that I’m not a conservationist simply because I disagree with your method of conservation.
MY method of environmental conservation is superior to yours. MY method of conservation would help the planet if practiced by everyone (yours wouldn’t).
2. Don’t you dare think that I don’t support reducing our dependency on foreign oil.
MY plan to reduce our dependency is superior to yours. MY plan would work (yours wouldn’t).
Furthermore, I suspect that many other commenters on here feel the same way as me.
Nope. You wrote, “engaged.”
Engaging enemies IS most certainly a conservative principle.
Let’s move to Machu Picchu
oh this is laughable…the whole *CIA created the crack epidemic* is laughable left-wing BS.
oh yeah *allegations* and thats all your article has, that the contras smuggled cocaine….of course the medillin cartel in columbia had NOTHING to do with cocaine, or crack
did you actually READ your link???
so much for the left-wing BS…
You forgot to mention that he used to sneak out of the White House and steal cans of beans from homeless people so he could take them back and eat them himself. If you’re going to propound whacko history, don’t go half way.
I certainly do. This whole global warming scam has the hallmark of a religion, as Rags inferred earlier. I resent anyone trying to ‘convert’ me, much as the same global warming cultists would resent my trying to ‘convert’ them to my faith.
So…. RedStOOOOOOOPidBigot…
You really need to read your own poop.
What you are relating is a rumor that was investigated, and found incredible.
Typical for a KosSack…
Which, BTW is the source for a lot of your talking points here.
Yes, the global warming claim is the worst thing that could have happened to real conservation efforts. Excessive resources are constantly diverted away from real environmental issues.
Fixed that for you
A perfect collectivist lie.
Not only is it NOT true, he didn’t have the power to do as alleged.
What RSB is relating is the result of the LIE that Demoncrats told Reagan about their intent to cut spending as a quid pro quo to his agreement to slightly raise taxes toward the end of his term.
As soon as they leave I’m going to open my windows. Does that put me on the Reno-Napolitano enemies list?
Done that….LOOOOOOOnnnnnnnggggg ago…
My house was built in 1828. It will be far cheaper for me to burn it to the ground than it would for me to upgrade it before selling.
where’d he go?
Tall grass…or
Kos for a refill of BS.
Red State Skeptic said:
I may work in the City but I live in farm country, the farmers and ranchers here are having a fit, costs of anything petroleum based, are going through the roof. This cap and Trade business is going to put many of them out of business simply because of
costs. When that happens, watch all food stuffs increase to the point of insanity and then see how well the Knee Cap and Trade bill works out.
It worked so well in Australia that they repealed it. Think we have anyone that smart in our “representative” government?
It probably wasn’t built with union labor so it should be torn down. Don’t burn it though – polar bears will die and Al Gore will be forced to eat another donut to absorb the CO2. Those fine old-growth timbers shouldn’t be in private hands anyway – we will use them for railroad ties on your new solar-powered commuter train. As for the new building, Obama’s deal with Medvedev will require you to build a scale model of a Stalin-era apartment block which will be used to house you, a Chinese Gitmoite and Auntie Obama What’s-her-name.
Thank you – remember, I am only the messenger.
Sorry, we shoot the messengers arround here.
and Congress voted on this without even reading it. How irresponsible. Of course if a bill has over 1000 pages, no one is going to read it. How absurd! Seems to me they are taken for a bunch of fools by the leadership, and they take us for a bunch of fools!
Save your ammo. They’ll be raising taxes on that next.
SO RSS you ride the bus, big fricken deal. How nice for you to ride a public subsidized mode of transportation. Not all of us work in jobs that allow us to use anything other than or own private cars while at the same time paying taxes that subsidize your ride. How many other politically correct things do you do that the rest of us subsidize.
wait…the bus picks up RSS & he lives in a farming area?
it’s the short bus…they go everywhere It’s a federal program.
if all this crap and tax is passed, I’ll certainly be seriously considering never purchasing a home ever again….
I call bollocks
So standing up for freedom, common sense, and the future of this nation = hating the planet….(?)
LOL, that question proves that you do not even have the ability to think clearly. Yet another example of our failed state-run schools.
Dude, the question was aimed at RSS because he admited wife has a big car, after telling us we hate the planet because we don’t take the bus like he does. He also said eating meat too often is bad dispite him eating 4 meals a day.
No, really. I live in a very rural area. Where’s the damn bus?!
Be along in 10 to 15 years.
when have we heard that before?
speaking of environmental nuts. Greenpeace just unfurled a huge banner on Mt. Rushmore with Obama’s face on it demaning an end to global warming…
ah huh yes they did.
You guys think you’re kidding.
Michael Moore has seriously proposed rural bus transport.
I said it before just after the bill passed. This bill essentially nationalized every private home in America. You don’t own it if you can’t sell it. And if you thought property taxes were high just wait until they Fed get into the act and mandate all sorts of changes you must implement in your own home!
This bill alone is reason to throw out every elected official in the federal government!
Can someone explain — intelligently please — where in the Constitution federal government gets the authority to require local building officials to do these things? Oh, wait, we don’t use the Constitution any longer.
Ragspierre–the only thing Michael Moore does that I take seriously is his bowel movements.
Now, those have gotta be earth-changing.
Where I live now, public transportation is NOT subsidized by taxpayers and actually makes more profits that way.
Where I grew up (last I heard and the last time I was back in the states at least) if you needed a ride into town (about 65 miles away) you could ride the school bus to town … but like the students, you had to leave your rifle in the rifle rack behind the driver’s seat but you could carry your pistol on your person.
Rural? Hahahahaha Yeah! Once we got into town!
The “despots” in Congress are really pushing the envelope.
It’s really painful to read the synopsis of the bill.
How many of these commercial building owners (most likely to be targets, don’t they have deep pockets, wink wink) voted for these idiots that are pushing this plan through?
The worst notion from all of this I see is that with greater and greater gov’t control of things, it only invites more and more graft/kickbacks/payoffs to “the inspectors” of these buildings, most of whom probably won’t understand at all what they are inspecting.
The more power and money you put into the gov’t’s hands, the more bad behaviour you see on the part of the actors…nothing worse than fools responsible for OPM!
By the way, why do all of the threads on this board have to devolve into person attacks that are digressions from the issues?
Could MM consider using board software that allows users to block comments from users they consider idiots?
Wait until you have to pay a federal property tax to pay for the bureaucrats whose job it is to refuse to allow you to sell your house.
“An unconstitutional act is not law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties: affords no protection: it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation, as inoperative as though it has never been passed.”
McCein Feingold silences the people and prohibits us from exercising our first amendment rights to free speech but the SCOTUS says it is Constitutional.
I agree with you but unfortunately, we now have a SCOTUS that is increasingly bent on following international law and creating their own rules as they go with a blatant disregard for the Constitution. I do not foresee this changing as we become increasingly socialist and then dive into the realm of communism.
M.P.G. was killed by many forces. I owned a 1976 Pontiac Sunbird carbureted 3.8 liter, 5-speed. 38 m.p.g. highway. I had a 1994 Ford Tempo 3.0 liter automatic, no overdrive. 25 m.p.g. Then, a 2001 Olds Bravada SUV 4.3 liter, automatic with overdrive. 24 m.p.g. My SUV was FAR more comfortable, had more power, and room than my Tempo while, weighing 1200 lbs. more AND less aerodynamic.
Insulating your home to be more efficient should have been your goal if, you planned on owning it for any length of time. I added insulation in my home in Northern Michigan to R-58 everywhere it would fit, and replaced water heater with a tankless model. My house was very comfortable year-round and I never paid over $125 a month for heat, or cooling. Oh, 1500 square foot ranch style and, yes it snowed plenty in winter. My Mom paid $400 a month in winter for heat in her house ( In 1978 ) For a home only, slightly larger than mine. I want others to be encouraged via tax credits to do what’s necessary for improved efficiency. If your already there, adding an additional fee to prove you have done so, is asinine. How will renters be helped by this bill ?
I do know that God is in control. As Thomas Jefferson said about events in his time, so it also rings true for today:
“For in a warm climate, no man will labour for himself who can make another labour for him. This is so true, that of the proprietors of slaves a very small proportion indeed are ever seen to labor. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever . . . .”
BTW : Energy independence is a crock. If it was so good; how come Saudi Arabia is not energy independant ? They IMPORTED 83,000 barrels a day of gasoline and, other refined oil products in 2005. Read ” Gusher of Lies ” Robert Bryce 2008. Very good read.
Sadly, our homes have not been our own since local gov’ts first started assessing a property tax. In a way, we are all just renting from the gov’t.
Local ordinances and HOA rules took away more of our freedom. In my little town the “compliance officers” drive around looking for homes with no trees in the front yard, shrubs too close to the street, house numbers over the garage door, etc., etc.
Now states will likely require disclosure of your home’s energy-efficiency rating when you want to sell the property. So you can either shell out the bucks to comply or let the bad rating reduce your property value.
And I maintain that each of us, in the quiet realm of our own conscience, HAS to decide if we really believe in the founding principles of America.
Are we, as individuals, masters or servants of our government?
Once we individually answer that question, we know what we must do.
If we say that obedience to law is our highest duty, then we are merely awaiting the passage of the law that makes us slaves.
Justhelping Obama get though high school…
Actually those nice Amish guys pick him up and give him a ride.
Oh, he stopped doing that long ago.
You forgot:
Life
Liberty
The pursuit of happiness
In other words you forgot FREEDOM
LOL…and you dare lecture anyone else. How much oil did it take to make the PC you type on all day? How much energy does it take to make a new hybrid car? How long do you have to drive it to reclaim that energy? What do you do with the perfectly good car you want me to throw away?
You need to change your name. You don’t comprehend skepticism.
I do agree but I think your presentation is an oversimplification. Perhaps this is due to the constraints of space and the fact that this is not truly our site, but I shall elaborate some if you will allow me … speaking only for myself mind you.
My Bible says to me that I am supposed to follow the laws of man … yet also that nothing supersedes the law of God. Thus, when the law of man conflicts with the Law of God, only one can be followed with a clear conscience. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land and on this point I do agree. However, like the Bible, it has been “interpreted” to mean what people want it to mean to further their causes. I am subject to the Law that is laid forth in the Constitution. However, the Constitution does not provide me with any rights but rather, expressly forbids the government from impeding my rights given to me by my creator. When that law is conflicted, that is a violation of the supreme law of this land and by its very nature, unconstitutional no matter how much the SCOTUS may try to convince me otherwise. To paraphrase, the Constitution is not an instrument to allow government to control the people, but rather an instrument for the people to control the government.
We have lost control and we need to get it back soon or the consequences will be increasingly and exponentially worse at least for anyone not in a position of authority and power. That is not freedom by any stretch of the imagination and I for one, refuse to submit.
From a local GOP newsletter:
“How many Democrats does it take to screw you with a light bulb?”