Cash for Caulkers

Last week, the House passed the "Cash for Caulkers" bill, which will provide nearly $6 billion worth of rebates for people who make energy-efficient improvements to their homes. Sounds green, but look closer and you'll realize it's not really about saving energy.

Cash for Caulkers, the Obama administration's push to subsidize home energy efficiencies via tax credits, faltered before 2009 came to a close -- but is expected to return this month. So let's take a breath and ask some basic questions, such as whether such credits will work and what models around...

A "cash for caulkers" program being studied by the Obama administration should look at much more than caulking windows and other simple ways to give households money to pay for weatherization projects. Filling in air gaps where heat escapes from homes is a good start to cutting heating bills and...