Image: Weatherizing homes creates jobs, cuts energy bills, and reduces greenhouse gas pollution. Credit: © Rick Reinhard/Bread for the World/CCA-NA2.0
Et tu, Barack? 60 House of Representatives members have demanded that President Obama step in to save Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) -- the $150 million "cash for caulkers" program that has created green jobs around the country, while helping homeowners lower their energy bills and cut greenhouse gas pollution.
PACE was effectively killed earlier this month, when the the Federal Housing Finance Agency told mortgage lenders that it might no longer guarantee loans for homes in municipalities that take advantage of PACE funding. FHFA objects to the fact that paying off PACE loans, which are typically attached to homes as property assessments, would take precedence over mortgages if a property was foreclosed. (See OnEarth.org's recent story about Babylon, NY -- "Long Island Town Fights To Keep Energy Efficiency Program" -- as well as the Spring 2010 OnEarth story "Home Energy Makeover.")
In a letter sent to the White House on Monday, the Representatives request that the FHFA put out revised guidelines that will allow PACE to go on, while also protecting taxpayer and private mortgage investments.
They also remind the President Obama that up until now, the administration supported the program enthusiastically. PACE was funded with federal stimulus dollars, and Vice President Biden and the Department of Energy have often praised the program as "a key element in our national policy priorty to create a 'green economy.'"
By loaning homeowners the funds to cover the high up-front cost of energy-efficiency improvements, "the PACE program has already created or saved thousands of jobs across the nation," reads the letter in part. "According to the latest estimates, for every 100,000 homes that are retrofitted, with an average expenditure of $10,000, more than 10,000 jobs would be created."
According to the Sacramento Business Journal, the letter was written by by Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D) with the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D), both of California. That makes sense, because, as the Journal notes, "officials have estimated the PACE program could drive up to $1 billion in new projects and create up to 20,600 jobs in [California]." San Francisco and Berkeley are among the cities and towns across the country that suspended their PACE efforts when the FHFA made its move against the program. State attorney general and gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown announced last week that the state would sue the FHFA over PACE.
Keep up with PACE via OnEarth's ongoing coverage.
