US Chamber supports plan for FannieMae to green mortgages

So capitalists really will sell you the rope with which to hang them.

We recently reported on the shocking development of Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson teaming up with liberal Democrat Sen. Michael Bennett to empower FannieMae, FreddieMac and the rest of the corrupt federal mortgage industry to help implement Obama’s green agenda through mortgage rates.

Now comes word that a coalition of large home builders and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has signed on as well.

Greenwire reports

…Government-backed companies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which guarantee more than 90 percent of new U.S. home loans, currently assume that all houses in a neighborhood will have the same energy expenses when deciding what homes a borrower can afford. That means an old and drafty home is assigned the same cost as a new house equipped with energy-saving features.

Some of the largest U.S. homebuilders, represented by a group called the Leading Builders of America, say that is a mistake. They say they would build houses to thriftier energy standards, saving money for buyers in the long term and growing profits for builders, if Fannie and Freddie added lower electric bills to the value of a home.

They have rallied around a bill (S. 1737) introduced last month by Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) that would make government-backed mortgage lenders look at energy costs and tell appraisers to factor in efficiency savings…

The new bill, which is known as the “Sensible Accounting to Value Energy Act” or “SAVE Act,” has received high-profile endorsements from the business world, including one from the highest-spending lobbying group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce…

The National Association of Home Builders, which has sometimes stood up against energy efficiency regulations that would raise the price of new houses, has not taken a position. The National Association of Realtors, which has raised concerns about making it more difficult to buy a home, has taken a public position of neutrality.

No companion bill has yet been introduced in the lower chamber of Congress. While tension between the Republican-led House and the Democratic-controlled Senate has slimmed the odds of passage for any legislation — especially at a time of little consensus on either energy policy or the fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — this bill’s roster of diverse allies might give it a chance…

“People routinely say, ‘The Chamber and NRDC and all these strange bedfellows are behind this bill. Isn’t that weird?'” he said. [Emphasis added]

Tell Johnny Isakson what you think of him empowering FannieMae to help implement the radical green agenda.

Tell US Chamber of Commerce president Tom Donohue what you think of it helping FannieMae to implement the radical green agenda.

Read “Sen. Isakson: FannieMae should promote green agenda through mortgages “.