McClintock Introduces Bill Banning State Control of Thermostats

California State Senator Tom McClintock has introduced a bill to prohibit the state from requiring that new construction include thermostats which could be controlled by anyone other than a building's resident.

McClintock's bill follows a previously proposed requirement by the California Energy Commission that new buildings include thermostats which could be controlled by the government. The idea was quickly cancelled due to public outcry.

However, as a commenter notes at Patterico's site, the problem is that there is more than one way for the government to skin the proverbial cat. What if the next governmental ploy is to regulate production of thermostats so that in future they can only be set for certain temperatures?

What's particularly galling is that while people like Governor Schwarzenegger refuse to get serious about building more energy plants, due in part to their fears about global warming, at the same time the governor is commuting daily between Sacramento and Los Angeles by private jet. Yet another liberal -- Al Gore's massive electricity bills come to mind -- who thinks doing without is good for the "little people" but not for himself.