The Herald-News - News Story

Elizabeth Buckley, a private Tennessee home inspector, addressed the Rhea County Commission last week on the dangers and laws coming out of the so-called "Cap and Trade" bill, which has passed the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.

Buckley stated her concern for homeowners and commercial property owners if the bill was passed in the Senate.

According to Buckley, the "Cap and Trade" bill would require owners wishing to sell their residential or commercial property to have an energy audit done. Any changes recommended by the auditing business would need to be done at the owner's expense, and if the property is worth more than $125,000 for a single family residence, the owner would not be eligible for any grants or assistance (other than tax credit) in paying for the list of improvements.

If the owners refused to have an audit done, they would face fines and other consequences, said Buckley.

She went on to speak about a proposed tree-planting program related to the "Cap and Trade" bill which would control where residences and businesses should strategically plant trees-and which trees not in prime locations should be removed. All of this would be at the owners' expense.

"I just want [people] to be aware of what's about to come down the pipe if this bill passes," said Buckley. "It's going to cost a lot of money to the homeowners and also to business owners."

In addition to controlling how homes would be built and what changes would have to be made before resale, Buckley said that major modifications would be required for older buildings already in existence.

"Government programs will be created, such as REEP (Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance) program. Its function would be to facilitate the retrofitting of existing buildings across the United States to achieve maximum cost-effective energy efficiency improvements, in addition to making significant improvements in water use and other environmental attributes," said Buckley.

On hearing of the county's hopes to have some area buildings audited for energy efficiency, Buckley was worried about the possibility of wasted money.

If this bill passes in the Senate, they energy efficient standards could completely change, forcing the county to spend even more money to meet the new requirements, she said.

Buckley linked recent stories of other states' widespread bankruptcy to the huge money spent in the push to "go green."

"We do need to be good stewards [of our environment]," she said in a later interview, "but it seems to me that it's extremely far reaching as far as government goes. If you purchase a piece of property, you shouldn't be told what you can or cannot do."

Buckley strongly urged people to contact their senators and congressmen and ask them to fight the "Cap and Trade" bill.

County Commission Chairman Ronnie Raper said that the commissioners would discuss Ms. Buckley's concerns and the implications of the proposed bill.

"I'm going to bring it back up at the [next County Commission] workshop and see what they want to do," said Raper.

Elisabeth Hollingsworth can be reached at elisabeth.hollingsworth@rheaheraldnews.com.