Energy and Climate Change Bill

As I expected, it didn’t take long after I created this blog for a new law to enter congress that strives to take away more of our individual rights and give more regulatory power to the federal government. Because of the size and complexity of this bill (1200 pages) I will cover only specific areas in this post.

First, some of the facts: The bill is commonly being called the “Climate Change Bill” but the official title is, “H.R..2454 - To create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy.” The official “short title” of the bill is, “American Clean Energy And Security Act of 2009.”
The bill was voted on and passed by the House of Representatives on June 26. Before the bill can be put into law it still needs to be passed by the Senate, then the president has the chance to veto it.
The full text of the bill as approved by the House of Representatives can be found here: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h2454rh.txt.pdf
The website OpenCongress.com offers this summary:”This is the Waxman-Markley comprehensive energy bill, known for short as "ACES," that includes a cap-and-trade global warming reduction plan designed to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020. Other provisions include new renewable requirements for utilities, studies and incentives regarding new carbon capture and sequestration technologies, energy efficiency incentives for homes and buildings, and grants for green jobs, among other things.”
A 22 page overview of the bill can be found here: http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090515/hr2454_summary.pdf


Ok, now that you know all about the bill, lets talk about the rights we stand to lose if this thing is passed. I picked a section somewhere in the middle of the bill and here are some excerpts of what I found:

Section 201 would change federal building codes as follows:
‘(a) ENERGY EFFICIENCY TARGETS.—
‘(1) IN GENERAL
‘(A) effective on the date of enactment of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, 30 percent reduction in energy use relative to a comparable building constructed in compliance with the baseline code;
`(B) effective January 1, 2014, for residential buildings, and January 1, 2015, for commercial buildings, 50 percent reduction in energy use relative to the baseline code; and
`(C) effective January 1, 2017, for residential buildings, and January 1, 2018, for commercial buildings, and every 3 years thereafter, respectively, through January 1, 2029, and January 1, 2030, 5 percent additional reduction in energy use relative to the baseline code.

`(b) National Energy Efficiency Building Codes-
`(1) REQUIREMENT-
`(A) IN GENERAL- There shall be established national energy efficiency building codes under this subsection, for residential and commercial buildings, sufficient to meet each of the national building code energy efficiency targets established under subsection (a), not later than the date that is one year after the deadline for establishment of each such target.
Part (d) of the same says that the new codes shall carry down to all state and local governments and must be inforced by them.

So basically what we have in this section is a much stricter building code for both residential and commercial buildings. The new building code would attempt to reduce energy usage by 30%, then 50%.

This blog entry is already pretty long so I will not attempt to discuss all the possible problems this would cause for the consumer and the energy provider. Maybe next post.

Introduction to my blog and its purpose.

My name is Steve Peterson. I am a citizen of the United States of America and, like most Americans, I love my country, its history, and what it stands for. I cherish the freedom we have and I am proud to be called an American. I fear, however, that we are slowly losing all that makes this country great. In particular, I feel that our individual rights are being slowly stripped from us one at a time. I don’t blame any one particular person for this. There are many involved. It was happening before our current president took office, and I expect it will continue with the next. I do not mean to say that I hold our leaders guiltless. Each of them plays a major role in this battle and is in a position to make a difference on the outcome. The President, Congress, the Supreme Court, advisors to these, the media, and many others, each have their part and are each accountable for their own decisions. Much of the blame must also fall back on us as citizens. The founders of our country knew well the tendency of government to grow greedy and attempt to usurp power over its people; and so the founders gave us a weapon against it. The constitution, the very government itself is the weapon of which I speak. Democracy. Through the voting process, we as mere citizens have the power to completely replace the entire government in a few short years without a single drop of blood shed, or an ounce of violence displayed. This has never been possible before in the history of the world, but it is possible now. Why then are we not using this weapon? Am I to believe that the majority of our population wants to give up their rights and allow a large central government to dictate their lives? I will not accept that this is the case. I believe, rather, that it is simply a matter of ignorance. That most Americans do not see what is happening. Those that are striving to deprive us of our basic rights are very clever and are seeking their goal so patiently and precisely that most don’t even realize it is happening. My task then, and the goal of this blog is not to convince readers of my point of view by logic and reason, but rather to discuss current events, as they unfold, that relate directly to this topic. Each time a law is passed or a court ruling pronounced that chips away at our rights, I will discuss it on this blog. I believe that by simply showing readers what is happening, they will themselves begin to see the danger of our current direction without any further persuasion from me.