Freedom First Society

Issue:  H.R. 2126 Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2014. (To promote energy efficiency, and for other purposes.) Sponsor: Rep. David D. McKinley (WV-1).   Question:  On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended (2/3 vote required).

Result:  Passed in House 375 to 36, 19 not voting. GOP and Democrat selected vote.

From the Congressional Research Service Summary:  

  • Requires the Administrator of General Services (GSA) to develop and publish model leasing provisions for use in leasing documents that designate a federal agency as a landlord or tenant to encourage building owners and tenants to invest in cost-effective energy efficiency measures.

Requires the Administrator to: (2) make available such model leasing provisions and best practices to state, county, and municipal governments that manage owned and leased building space to encourage investment in such energy efficiency measures.

  • [R]equires the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to study the feasibility of: (1) significantly improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings through the design and construction of separate spaces with high-performance energy efficiency measures, and (2) encouraging owners and tenants to implement such measures in separate spaces. Requires the Secretary to publish such study on DOE’s website.
  • Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a voluntary Tenant Star program within the Energy Star program to recognize tenants in commercial buildings that voluntarily achieve high levels of energy efficiency in separate spaces.
  • Requires DOE’s Administrator of the Energy Information Administration to collect data on categories of building occupancy that consume significant quantities of energy and on other aspects of the property, building operation, or building occupancy determined to be relevant to lowering energy consumption.

Analysis: H.R. 2126 is a prime example of unconstitutional federal overreach in support of a subversive agenda. It is particularly disturbing to see such overwhelming bipartisan support for even a small building block in that agenda.

The federal government has no authority to promote domestic energy efficiency in buildings not occupied by federal agencies.   And the notion that the federal government must take the lead in promoting genuine economic efficiency in the marketplace is absurd. However, the greatest concern should be the real agenda driving such intervention.

For decades the federal government, with support from both parties, has supported unconstitutional programs that restrict America’s production of cheap, plentiful energy. There is no constitutional basis for a federal Department of Energy nor for an Environmental Protection Agency.   Contrary to their advertised objectives, both the DOE and EPA have been key participants in the subversive war to strangle and micromanage the American economy.

We have assigned (good vote) to the Nays and (bad vote) to the Yeas. (P = voted present; ? = not voting; blank = not listed on roll call.)

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