Environmental Talk

Heeeere’s the California Energy Commission…

I know it’s easy to agree when people say we need to conserve energy. Why wouldn’t you? It will save you money and it’s socially beneficial.

You could make the same argument about marriage. Why wouldn’t you get married? You’ll get a break when you file taxes and it’s generally agreed that it’s good for the social fabric.

Problems arise, however, when you couch either of these personal decisions in terms of “morality” because at that point, most politicians then feel it is their “duty” to make you do the “moral” thing.

The big problem with politicians is that you have to keep an eye on them all the time.

Unencumbered by anything other than their own certitude they know what’s better for you than you do, they generally feel entitled to use any means possible to get their way. One of the favorite ways of politicians to sneak stuff past us, is to bury it in the back of some time-sensitive bill or in some mundane legislative regulation.

So, it’s not surprising that California officials thought no one would really notice when they inserted some additional language into revisions to the Title 24 regs. Title 24 is the 236-page code that covers mandated energy efficiency rules in the state. Not guidelines or suggestions, mind you, but mandated rules.

You might think 236 pages on anything would provide enough government control to keep even the most power-hungry bureaucrat satisfied.

You would be wrong.

Revisions to the Title 24 regulations submitted to the California Energy Commission included an item that demands all newly constructed homes and buildings have Programmable Communicating Thermostats (PCTs) installed in them. PCTs permit the government and utilities to over-ride the owner’s decisions on the heating or air conditioning in their own homes or buildings.

So, if the government thinks your bedroom is too cool, they will have the ability to bump up the temperature to a level they consider more … what? Appropriate? Socially conscious? Moral?

Theoretically, the government would only be allowed to do this in the case of an “emergency event.” Of course, “emergency” isn’t defined and, perhaps of more concern, “the description does not provide any exception for health or safety concerns.”

What could possibly go wrong?

California residents have until January 30, 2008 to make their objections known to the Energy Commission or their legislators. As I understand it, the Commission makes the decision to alter the code so, ultimately, Californians may not have any real say at all in whether the change is enacted.

If you’re okay with the temperature of your house being controlled by the same folks who brought you FEMA and the war in Iraq, please don’t come crying to the rest of us when you have to drive past the well-lit houses of your elected officials and Energy Commission board members on the way to find a cousin in Nevada who still has power.

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