Cap and Tax bill may mean retrofits for all homes

CNSNews is reporting the following:

The 1,400-page cap-and-trade legislation pushed through by House Democrats contains a new federal policy that residential, commercial, and government buildings be retrofitted to increase energy efficiency, leaving it up to the states to figure out exactly how to do that.

This means that homeowners, for example, could be required to retrofit their homes to meet federal “green” guidelines in order to sell their homes, if the cap-and-trade bill becomes law.

The bill, which now goes to the Senate, directs the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and implement a national policy for residential and commercial buildings. The purpose of such a strategy – known as the Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) – would be to “facilitate” the retrofitting of existing buildings nationwide.

“The Administrator shall develop and implement, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, standards for a national energy and environmental building retrofit policy for single-family and multi-family residences,” the bill reads.

It continues: “The purpose of the REEP program is to facilitate the retrofitting of existing buildings across the United States.”

The bill leaves the definition of a retrofit and the details of the REEP program up to the EPA. However, states are responsible for ensuring that the government’s plans are carried out, whatever the final details may entail.

“States shall maintain responsibility for meeting the standards and requirements of the REEP program,” the bill says.

Here is the full text of H.R. 2454 as approved by the House. Title II, subtitle A:: Building Energy Efficiency Codes contains the specifics relating to this portion of the law. Section 202 details the Building Retrofit Program for residential homes.

The bill also establishes a national building code that states must enforce - and, of course, threatens a loss of federal funds for non-compliance. Can you say 'state sovereignty' and 'states rights'?

Maybe if they'd actually read the bill - and allowed all of us time to read it, we'd already know about these details that are going to cost us considerably....