In the April 9 Columbian it was reported that the costs to build a new home in Clark County have increased almost $40,000 since 2009 (“Affordable housing vs. climate”). Builders today are forced to install heat pumps and EV chargers and are forbidden to install access to cost-effective natural gas.
Does anyone else see the hypocrisy of this when we are trying to achieve more affordable housing? Builders need to have the freedom to build homes that the marketplace will purchase. And homebuyers should be able to buy homes that are competitively priced set by the marketplace, not legislators. How can legislators look themselves in the mirror and truthfully say that they have affordable housing as a top priority after all the regulations they pass that increase the cost of housing?
