New US ‘energy standards’ threaten low-income homebuyers
New energy standards for mobile homes set by the Biden administration took effect last week which, while promising to save costs and slash carbon emissions, are expected to do neither.
Starting May 31st, mobile homes — also known as manufactured housing — must adhere to new insulation and sealing requirements announced by the Department of Energy (DOE) last year.
“DOE’s new energy efficiency rules will help save the 17 million Americans residing in mobile homes up to $475 per year on average on their utility bills,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in a statement. “The rules will hold manufacturers of these U.S. homes to cost-saving efficiency standards, giving residents more comfortable living environments and a much-needed break on their annual utility costs, while delivering cleaner air for their communities.”
But according to the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), which is suing the DOE over the new restrictions, these modifications are expected to raise mobile home prices by $4,100 to $4,500. That could be calamitous for the average manufactured homebuyer who makes $35,000 a year.
Nor could mobile homebuyers find solace in the DOE’s promise of a cleaner environment as a result of the rules. According to the DOE’s own analysis, the cut in carbon emissions would be trivial.
“According to the DOE’s own estimates, over a 30-year period, the new rule will reduce CO2 emissions by 80.4 million metric tons,” MHI’s Jonathan Lesser told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “By comparison, according to the 2022 BP Statistical Review of World Energy, US energy-related CO2 emissions were 4.7 billion metric tons. So, over a 30-year period, the new rule will reduce CO2 emissions by the equivalent of 150 hours of US emissions in 2022. . .Obviously, this rule will have zero impact on climate.”
The impact is particularly negligible when considering that all carbon emissions are anyway absorbed by trees, which also produce far more clean oxygen than the carbon dioxide emitted by humans.
But the restrictions add to a concerning trend within the Biden administration that disproportionately impacts low-income Americans.
A $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, for example, was presented as a magnanimous incentive to buy EVs amid the Biden administration’s goal that 50% of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030.
Most electric vehicle (EV) owners who are filing their 2022 tax returns, however, are discovering they do not qualify for the tax credit because several caveats in the Inflation Reduction Act severely limit the number of EVs eligible.
Another clause in the Act allocated $80 billion to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), with $45.6 billion earmarked for tax enforcement. This is concerning for low-income Americans, who have been facing greater scrutiny from Biden’s IRS than high-income earners.
The Act also includes a corporate tax, which would hit the middle and lower classes hard, despite Joe Biden’s pledge not to increase taxes for those making less than $400,000 per year.
