(Thomas Mitchell/4th St8) – There was nothing further in the state budget that the governor or the lawmakers could possibly find to cut. Nope. Not another dime.
That’s why the fine folks of Elko will be treated to a hearing tomorrow (Nov. 10) at 1 p.m. at City Hall, where the Nevada State Office of Energy will regale on the absolute necessity of adopting the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code, despite the governor’s executive order suspending any new executive branch regulations until 2012 to show the world how business friendly Nevada can be.
The Energy Office, which is located in the budget under the governor’s office, though I’ve not yet been able to find a separate line item spelling out its total cost to the taxpayers, is spending $1.2 million to push for the adoption of this international code.
According to the agency’s webpage:
“$1,190,000 was budgeted to secure the adoption of the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (‘IECC’) in cities and counties within Nevada. The IECC is a code adopted by many state and municipal governments in theUnited States for the establishment of minimum design and construction requirements for energy efficiency.”
The code itself spells out minimum standards for building energy conservation in new buildings along with the need for inspectors, fees and fines for failure to comply. The code addresses all aspects of energy uses, including heating and ventilating, lighting, water heating, and power usage for appliances and building systems. It sets up a complete new government bureaucracy, including a board of appeals.
It’s one thing to have a building code so future purchasers can be reasonably assured the structure will not fall down on their heads, but now the bureaucrats are setting up standards and telling builders to spend construction money so future occupants can save a little on their power bills.
Apparently the free market and the concept of return on investment escape these people. Many a building buyer would gladly pay a little more up front if told that money would be recouped in a couple of years through lower power bills and that the savings would continue for years to come, adding profits to the bottom line.
On the one hand our lawmakers are demanding the construction of all those solar, wind and geothermal plants to supply electricity and then demanding commercial and residential buildings be outfitted to use less power. Make up your mind, legislators.
This is just another example of the boys from central planning telling you what kind of toilet to buy, what kind of shower head to use, what kind of light bulb to screw in, what color to paint your house, etc., etc. and then charging you for the inspectors and levying a fine if we fail to comply.
This kind of nitpicking actually retards innovation that would far more quickly accomplish the very goals these do-gooders claim to have.
What do you bet, any building that goes on the market in the future will have to be brought up to “code”?
Open your wallets and out pour the money into the hands of the bureaucrats and don’t bother to ask when, because there is never enough money or enough time or enough regulation to satisfy the nanny staters.
