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How the housing industry is working to stop energy efficient homes

February 22, 2024 /

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“When things don’t go their way at the national level, then they turn to the state and local level. And when things don’t go their way there, they change the rules.”

Like climate change, debate over the latest energy code is sometimes becoming politicized by legislators trying to stand out in an election year, she said. “Every bill that wasn’t successful last year, we expect to be introduced again.”

Across the country, the home builder lobby is mobilizing its 140,000 members against state and local efforts to save energy and ease the transition to cleaner technologies, such as wiring homes to support electric car charging. Since poorly designed and insulated buildings tend to leak and waste energy — one reason homes account for nearly one-fifth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions — climate advocates say the home builders’ repeated victories will have a lasting impact, locking in practices that could hurt consumers and the planet for decades.

By Anna Phillips

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