Hope and Change

The Dems just never stop. Militant environmentalists and Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Democrat, Henry Waxman is proposing "The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009".



The bill calls for an energy efficiency rating for all commercial buildings in the form if an "energy sticker", similar to what you see on a car mileage rating sticker.Incidentally, the only thing left out of that warm fuzzy title was mom and apple pie. But don't let the always benevolent lefties fool you. This is the same committee bringing you "cap and trade". Another nightmare for another blog.



Ostensibly the left wants to raise the awareness of energy consumption so that potential buyers, tenants, developers or lenders can "compare" one building to another. Ron Jarnagin, staff scientist in the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Energy and Environment Directorate and chair of a committee for the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) (deep breath) says; "If we have a way to compare buildings, anybody who might be interested in purchasing or leasing a property will have some interest in how well yours performs compared to another property". Thanks for the help Ron. I can just imagine how "interested" a lender will be with a regulator breathing down their neck.


Let's take a closer look at just a tiny few of the problems in the latest evaporation of capitalism and freedom.

The language of the labeling provision remains broad, meaning hope for the best and change when convenient, especially during an election cycle.


The states are burdened with implementation of the labeling and in exchange they receive federal funds for reimbursement of expenses. Translation: nobody has a clue how to make utopia a reality, it just has to sound good.


To complicate the ridiculous, the labels will include TWO ratings. One performance grade based upon utility bills and "other" operating characteristics; the other, a building design grade that assesses a buildings POTENTIAL energy efficiency. What newly created, over-bloated government agency is in charge of assessing and gathering the data for "potential" energy efficiency? Who's on first?


Answer: Both grades will be derived from the vaunted Energy Star program - designed with guys like Ron in mind. And I was worried....

One minor issue with the Energy Star program is it has barely surpassed the nice idea phase in terms of practical application. Only a minuscule fraction of newly constructed commercial buildings have any semblance of a "rating".

Moreover, there remains zero consistency in Energy Star scores that have been compiled. Scores are computed using various computer software from various software providers and to compound that, the software does not distinguish between the energy use of one tenant over another. If an owner leases to a high energy user like a data center for example, then that owner receives a lower score in the eyes of Henry Waxman. Lower score means-energy audit.

The catch all it seems is, if a building owner doesn't comply with the rules(that don't yet exist), and disclose energy ratings(that don't yet exist) then you get an "energy audit". No doubt administered by another government agency.


OK, so how much will it cost just to gather the data on energy use for commercial buildings? In the words of Jason Hartke, director of advocacy and public policy for the U.S. Green Building Council, just one of the organizations making money off the tax payer (another Ron), "Improving the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) is a "critical investment". .... a modest investment of $3 to $7 million could capture much more of the market.


Potentially $7 million to do just the survey? Just imagine the financial impact on the nation wide implementation, regulation, administration, enforcement, oversight, campaign kick-backs etc. etc.(both state and federal) required to actually launch this behemoth program on the backs of the American business owner.


Better cough up another trillion America.


Does anyone know where I can find a job title like Ron or Jason?