Austin Climate Protection Plan = Bloated Bureaucracy

Will Wynn, the mayor of Austin, is attempting to step outside his bounds with the formulation of the Austin Climate Protection Plan. While some view this as a cutting edge program designed to lead the nation in energy efficiency, I see this move as the aggressive injection of unnecessary bureaucracy.

Wynn’s plan will require that all home sellers make costly improvements prior to the sale of their house. These improvements would be necessary in order to meet new strict energy standards in Austin.

I believe Wynn’s intentions are good, but that does not mean that this is actually a healthy move for Austin. Wynn makes the point that at closing time, there is already a large stack of documents to sign. He just wants this to be another one of those papers that must be signed before the completion of the sale of a home. This attitude is worrying to me. He justifies another layer of bureaucracy by simply saying that there is already so much, so who would notice another layer.

Someone will have to monitor the sale of homes. Will we create another agency with this purpose? Will we have to hire people to staff this agency? Will these workers need offices, phones, special devices to measure energy efficiency, and other miscellanea?

Housing in Austin is expensive in comparison to the majority of Texas. Many people complain about this fact. Will it serve Austin to increase the sale of a home to contain the cost of these mandated improvements?

Wynn had stated that the government would help to get sellers the help they needed to make these improvements. I assume that this means matching people with contractors to make the necessary improvements. To which contractors will the government lead people? Follow the money.

The bureaucracy will keep growing. Wynn has stated that many rules will be required to make this monstrosity functional. This means that there will be special cases for the poor and elderly. The government will have to pay the price to make the necessary improvements on their homes. Again, follow your tax dollars.

This program will increase government, cost more money, make the sale of a home more difficult and lengthy, deter home buyers from buying in Austin, and will put money into the pockets of special contractors.

Will Wynn should motivate Austinites to make choices to save money with energy efficiency through education. Educating the public and giving them the ability to make their own decisions is always better than force.