The Green Journey Starts at Home ™

This afternoon, the House passed the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 (H.R. 5019) with a vote of 246 to 161!  The bill passed with bi-partisan support – 12 Republicans voted in favor.

Let’s see how our Minnesota representatives voted:

• Bachmann, Michele, Minnesota, 6th – Nay
  She likes the ‘Drill Baby Drill’ approach and evidently does not have much use for conservation.  In the aftermath of the BP spill you would think that she would see that there needs to be smart alternatives, to drilling our way out of our energy challenges.
• Ellison, Keith, Minnesota, 5th – Yea
  Smart man!  He earned your support.
• Kline, John, Minnesota, 2nd – Nay
  Kline writes on his site that “Any legislation designed to revive and renew our economy should help American families and small businesses by preserving and creating more jobs in America. Americans should be able to keep more of their hard-earned money – to save, spend or invest. Legislation based on those principles would put America on a direct road to economic recovery.”

  If Kline really believes in his words, that we need to create jobs and help people save money, there is is no good reason from him to vote Nay.  Remember this folks when he is up for reelection.

• McCollum, Betty, Minnesota, 4th – No vote
• Oberstar, James L., Minnesota, 8th – Yea
  Another smart individual who deserves your support.
• Paulsen, Erik, Minnesota, 3rd – Nay
  What is Erik thinking??
• Peterson, Collin C., Minnesota, 7th – Yea
  Thanks Collin.
• Walz, Timothy J., Minnesota, 1st – Yea
  Tim understands energy conservation and deserves your support.

This is a major milestone for Home Star, but work still remains. First, the Senate must follow up and pass their version of the Home Star bill. Additionally, today’s vote was an authorization, so it must be matched with an appropriation bill. An appropriation bill will actually allocate the $6 billion dollars to the program.

HOME STAR legislation is scheduled to be voted on by the full U.S. House of Representatives this coming Thursday, May 6.

This initiative establishes a $6 billion rebate program to encourage immediate investment in energy-efficient appliances, building mechanical systems and insulation, and whole-home energy efficiency retrofits. HOME STAR will rapidly create jobs in both construction and manufacturing, while saving families money on their energy bills. It will build on current state programs and existing industry capacity for performing both retrofits and quality assurance, using federal standards and incentives as a common platform to lower program costs and increase consumer awareness.

For an interesting article on Energy Conservation please see the March edition of National Geographic.

The New York Times provides an interesting video on thermography and energy loss detection —  see this link.  NYTimes editor Tom Zeller has written  an article on having an energy audit performed, the recommended improvements and the results of the improvements.