Rabbit Valley Road

After hitting up the Wall Street Journal last week, the guy that brought you the internet writes to a warmer audience in the NYT with a 5-point climate change plan for the next administration.

Here’s what we can do — now: we can make an immediate and large strategic investment to put people to work replacing 19th-century energy technologies that depend on dangerous and expensive carbon-based fuels with 21st-century technologies that use fuel that is free forever: the sun, the wind and the natural heat of the earth.

Then, he goes through his 5ver which is a pretty boilerplate approach with maybe the exception of #4:

Fourth, we should embark on a nationwide effort to retrofit buildings with better insulation and energy-efficient windows and lighting. Approximately 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States come from buildings — and stopping that pollution saves money for homeowners and businesses. This initiative should be coupled with the proposal in Congress to help Americans who are burdened by mortgages that exceed the value of their homes.

Yesterday, my mother-in-law and I were talking about falling home values, and I suggested that not only was property still one of the best longterm investments you could make, but that retrofitting homes with rising energy costs in mind will save you money and make your home more competitive 10-15 years down the line if you ever plan to sell. If Obama & Co. want to give me or anyone a tax break for improving the energy efficiency of my home, I’ve got no problems with that.