AT is pleased to have played a small role in keeping Californians (and perhaps eventually all Americans) in charge of their thrmostat settings. For now, at least. Joseph Somsel first revealed here that California was considering requiring the installation of remotely controllable thermostats in all new construction and remodeling, so that authorities could lower or increase temperatures when energy supply considerations made this desirable in in the eyes of the all-knowing state.A small scale national firestorm began, and even the New York Times credited  American Thinker with putting the story on the national agenda.The California Energy Commission has now backed down  and removed  programmable communicating thermostats (PCT) from the 2008 Building Standards. Here is the official notice:There has been considerable discussion concerning programmable communicating thermostats (PCT) and their proposed inclusion in the regulations for the 2008 building standards....(Read Full Post)