Going Into the Red to Be Green
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Bay Area Berkeley Council of Neighborhood Associations Berzerkely cap and trade CO2 Democrats energy efficiency energy standards global warming green homes kalifornia Laurie Bright Liberals Obama San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Comical Timothy Burroughs
High or low carbon emissions?
It could only happen in Berzerkley, Kalifornia (that’s Berkeley, California to the rest of you who don’t live in the Bay Area): Homeowners might be required to spend as much as $33,800.00 in order to make their homes “green” to help lesson the effects of “global warming.” That’s right, you heard me, as much as $33,800.00. The San Francisco Comical, I mean Chronicle reports:
Within the next few years, the city is likely to mandate that all homes meet strict energy standards. In many cases this would mean new double-paned windows, insulation in the attic, walls and floors, a new white roof that reflects heat, a forced-air furnace and high-efficiency appliances.
The cost: upward of $33,800.
It is common for cities to mandate certain requirements for either new home construction or extensive renovations of existing dwellings such as building codes but this proposal will apply to all homes in Berzerkley. Furthermore, according to the article (bolding added for emphasis):
No deadlines or specific standards have been set yet. But the city’s goal is for all of Berkeley’s 23,000 homes and 25,000 duplexes and apartment units to reduce energy use by 35 percent by 2020.
Eventually energy standards will be applied to businesses and industries, as well.
In the beginning, the city will offer incentives, such as rebates and financial assistance, for homeowners to comply. But within a few years, the city will start imposing penalties for those who don’t meet the standards, said Timothy Burroughs, the city’s climate action coordinator.
Berkeley, California is the champion of the Liberal agenda and gained recent fame for telling U.S. military recuiters that they were not welcome in that city. How are the Lefties, who in general are behind the entire “global warming” idea, feeling now that they might actually be forced by government mandate to spend their “green” dollars?
“It’s ridiculous,” said Laurie Bright, president of the Berkeley Council of Neighborhood Associations.
“I don’t believe this proposal will have any effect on reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” he said. “We can’t develop our way out of climate change.”
Every element of a typical Berkeley house could be up for “improvement” including such things as windows, insulation, water heaters, roofs, dishwashers, etc… This might sound like some kind of a fantasy but it is what happens when Liberals and global warmers get their way. Looks like Timothy Burroughs, the city’s climate action coordinator, will soon be known as the Green GESTAPO. I wonder if homeowners will be dragged from their environmentally friendly hemp sheets and subjected to a low-CO2 yelling if they don’t comply?
Expect to see, if the city council passes the necessary laws to bring the city into compliance with Measure G, other towns in the U.S. doing the same thing. Of course, we have President Obama’s “cap-and-trade” idea working its way through Congress which would impose up to a $2 trillion penalty on Americans.
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1:12 PM
It might be fair to point out that for most homeowners, every dollar that is spent on insulation and energy efficient appliances is eventually returned to them in the form of lower bills for gas and electricity. The issue of course is how to finance these improvements, and whether mandates should be imposed similar to other building code improvements as opposed to other loans or other forms of incentives to make these changes.
So while it is perfectly all right to argue about the best way to get there, surely we should all be on the same page as far as being in favor of energy efficiency.
joemarkowitz’s last blog post..Further Down the Road to Socialism
1:45 PM
I appreciate your comments. I’m sure, in theory, everybody would love to have an energy “efficient” home but the issue I have is the penalties which legally can be imposed because of “global warming.”