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Little-known international NGO finalizing building code forcing US homes to be green

Little-known international NGO finalizing building code forcing US homes to be green

An international organization that develops model codes and standards for new construction is quietly preparing an energy conservation code that opponents argue is a backdoor climate initiative and will lead to higher home prices. The International Code Council (ICC) — a Washington, D.C.-based group that regularly issues more than a dozen codes regulating new construction and impacting billions of people worldwide — is expected to finalize its 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) early next week. While previous IECCs received little opposition, the 2024 version has been widely criticized for prioritizing climate initiatives over energy efficiency. “They’re incentivizing electrification and discriminating against the natural gas industry by excluding it from being part of the code,” Karen Harbert, the president and CEO of the American Gas Association (AGA), told Fox News Digital in an interview. “That really is anticompetitive behavior.” “If you are about energy efficiency, you should say, ‘We are about energy efficiency however you get there’ — being fuel neutral. But in this case, they are prescribing the way to get there, and it only includes electrification.” BIDEN INVOKES WARTIME POWERS TO FUND ELECTRIC HEATERS AS HE CRACKS DOWN ON GAS APPLIANCES AGA, whose members provide natural gas service to 180 million customers nationwide, has argued in recent months that the ICC developed its 2024 energy efficiency code with “serious lapses in due process” by not involving them. It further said the code would harm consumers and lead to higher costs. The leading gas industry group, other energy industry associations, housing groups and the ICC’s own Northeast regional branch filed appeals in late December and early January asking for a revision to the 2024 IECC. However, the ICC’s appeals board recommended this month that those appeals be rejected, leaving the group’s board of directors with the final decision. That’s expected to come Monday. EXPERTS WARN BIDEN ADMIN’S WATER HEATER CRACKDOWN WILL HIKE PRICES, REDUCE CONSUMER CHOICE Among the provisions opposed, the draft IECC, which has been in development for years, requires new one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses to install electrical infrastructure for home electric vehicle chargers. It also mandates that new homes are equipped with the electrical wiring needed for a solar panel system and all-electric appliances. According to the AGA, those measures and other provisions were largely included in the IECC as part of an omnibus package in September 2022 after rejection through the normal process. “The activists that are supporting an all-electrification agenda tried to come in through the policy front door, which was to ban natural gas in cities, and that got overturned in the Ninth Circuit,” Harbert told Fox News Digital. “They tried to ban gas at the state level, and that’s now being challenged. And they have tried to do it through regulation and have been unsuccessful.” “So, you go to a process that is very much under the radar, very wonky, very technical, but with the same objectives,” she continued, referencing the IECC process. “You come in the front door, you come in the side door, now you’re coming in the back door.” In addition to AGA, the American Public Gas Association, the appliance manufacturer trade group Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) also filed appeals to the 2024 IECC. BIDEN ADMIN LAUNCHED AN AGGRESSIVE CAMPAIGN TARGETING HOME APPLIANCES WITH ECO REGULATIONS IN 2023 “As long-standing supporters of the ICC codes and standards, we are concerned that this version of the IECC misses the mark,” Paula Cino, NMHC’s vice president for construction, development, land use and counsel, told Fox News Digital in a written statement.  “Without action from the ICC Board to cabin provisions that exceed the bounds of the code, this IECC would threaten housing affordability and weigh renters down with costs for unwanted or unusable technologies,” she added. In its December appeal filed jointly with BOMA, NMHC particularly criticized the IECC’s electric vehicle charging provision and another provision requiring new homes to have so-called demand responsive controls for water heating equipment, allowing a third party to reduce a home’s energy consumption in times of high demand. NMHC and BOMA argued that the 2024 IECC would place additional costs on Americans, including low-income families. And the ICC’s Region IV branch, which covers the Northeast, also warned of the potential negative economic consequences of the 2024 IECC. BIDEN ADMIN’S WAR ON HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES WILL CAUSE HIGHER PRICES, DIRTIER CLOTHES AND DISHES, EXPERTS WARN Overall, jurisdictions across 48 states and representing more than 119 million Americans administer the IECC. ICC CEO Dominic Sims said late last year that the code is an essential tool for “achieving energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction goals.” “The model building energy code before the International Code Council represents a consensus agreement among builders, building code officials, and energy efficiency advocates,” said Jennifer Amann, a senior fellow at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, which advocates for electrification policies. “It will cut energy waste in new homes, lower utility bills for homeowners, and reduce pollution.” “The International Code Council’s board should approve this commonsense proposal and not bend to special interests representing polluting industries,” she told Fox News Digital. The debate over the group’s energy conservation code comes amid a broader push from environmental organizations to electrify the residential and commercial sector, which accounts for the largest share of total end-use carbon emissions of any sector in the U.S. Activists and Democrat-led local governments have sought to ban natural gas hookups as part of that effort, replacing gas-powered stoves, water heaters and furnaces with electric alternatives. At the same time, the Biden administration has implemented a series of regulations cracking down on popular home appliances, forcing them to be more efficient. It has also earmarked $1 billion under the Inflation Reduction Act for grants helping local jurisdictions implement the ICC’s IECC. The ICC declined to comment and the Department of Energy didn’t respond to a request for comment at press time. 

Cori Bush is shaping up to be most vulnerable ‘Squad’ member this election cycle

Cori Bush is shaping up to be most vulnerable ‘Squad’ member this election cycle

Missouri Rep. Cori Bush faces an avalanche of problems with less than five months until her Democrat primary, positioning her as the most vulnerable congressional member of the progressive “Squad” this election cycle. Bush and other lawmakers in the Squad have recently found themselves targeted by organizations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which seeks to oust them from office over their contentious stances and statements against the Jewish state. Bush, however, is in the worst position of the group. She faces a tough primary challenge from her Democrat opponent while dealing with a federal investigation into her campaign. Moreover, her campaign funds are running low heading into a pivotal time before her Aug. 6 primary. CORI BUSH’S CAMPAIGN PAYS $17,500 MORE TO HER HUSBAND, BRINGING HIS TOTAL TO $120K, NEW FILINGS SHOW Bush’s opponent, Wesley Bell, a progressive prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County who clashes with her in his stance on Israel, was shown to have a significant lead over the “Squad” member last month, the New York Post reported. Bush is also confronting a Justice Department investigation into her campaign’s security payments, including to her husband, Cortney Merritts, who she married in February 2023. The couple had been an item before she entered Congress in 2021. MASSIVE COALITION FORMS TO PROTECT LEFT-WING ‘SQUAD’ MEMBERS AGAINST ONSLAUGHT OF ELECTION SPENDING Merritts has been paid $120,000 from Bush’s campaign since February 2022. Politicians are permitted to pay family members from their committees if they provide “bona fide” services at fair market value. Merritts acquired the checks as Bush’s committee spent far more on St. Louis-based companies for private details. In total, she’s poured more than $770,000 into private security services. Merritts, meanwhile, took in the money as he did not have a private security license, Fox News Digital previously reported. He also did not appear in a Washington, D.C., database of licensed security professionals.  Watchdog groups subsequently filed at least two complaints over the matter. The initial complaint, filed to the Federal Election Commission in March 2023 by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, is pending. The ethics committee has since cleared Bush in a second complaint from the Committee to Defeat the President. “While the campaign can’t comment on the ongoing federal investigation, the Congresswoman is fully cooperating with the DOJ; her campaign’s security services are in accordance with all applicable laws and have never been paid for using federal taxpayer funds,” Bush’s campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement.  “The Office of Congressional Ethics unanimously cleared Congresswoman Bush back in September, and she fully expects to be cleared again when the DOJ concludes its investigation,” the spokesperson said. The Justice Department opened its investigation into Bush’s campaign payments after the ethics committee had decided she did not violate rules. ILHAN OMAR’S CAMPAIGN CASH TO CONSULTANTS DIPPED BY MILLIONS AFTER HALTING PAYMENTS TO HUSBAND’S FIRM Adding to her problems, Bush is also trailing Bell in fundraising. Her most recent filings show that her committee went into January with just $215,000. Conversely, Bell was shown to be better positioned and reported $408,000 in the bank. Bell has also seen a fundraising swell since shifting from challenging Republican Sen. Josh Hawley to joining the Democrat primary against Bush.  From the beginning of October through late December, Bell’s campaign raised $492,000 and edged out Bush’s cash haul. He added another $100,000 in early January, his campaign told the Riverfront Times. Federal filings also show that Bell has received the support of some big-name Democrat donors who give extensively to prop up politicians headed into elections, spelling more trouble for the Missouri lawmaker.  LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who gave the maximum $6,600 to Bell’s campaign for the primary and general elections, is one such person who has backed her challenger. Bush’s campaign did not comment on its low amounts of cash when reached by Fox News Digital. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.