I blogged last month on the deliberate misinformation campaign that the enemies of energy efficiency used to weaken several key policies in ACES, costing us all money. In the last couple weeks several news stories have continued to shine a light on the happenings.
First, the Daily Green and Factcheck.org note where Representative Boehner and Rush Limbaugh pushed the falsehoods directly, on air and on the web.
Second, ProgressIllinois takes Illinois representatives Roskam and Manzullo to task for failing to get the facts straight and going on the record repeating the lies.
This type of tactic is why energy efficiency policies are far from easy to enact despite clear benefits to everyone in the country. When it comes down to it, some elected officials will lie about an efficiency provision (or play dumb) rather than be open about protecting a special interest to the detriment of their constituents.
On a similar note, the New York Times explains the odd thought process that led the National Association of Realtors and Representative Perlmutter to limit the energy labeling provision of the bill to new construction.
So when the industry came to ask Perlmutter about the building labeling program, it put House leaders in a bind: They would have to balance the aggressiveness of the climate bill against a major business interest.
I have never understood why Realtors feel threatened by energy labels. Grocery stores have gotten along just fine since the advent of nutritional labels and a car dealer will happily sell me a Prius or an SUV. Regardless, this concern led to the conclusion that folks that own older homes shouldn’t be allowed to use a voluntary label that will help them save money on their energy bills.
Consider all this nonsense in the context of the $1.2 trillion dollars that the most recent report from McKinsey and Co says is out there for the taking through energy efficiency.
We have to wait a little longer now thanks to elected officials on this list.
