Green Grouse

Today it’s bothering me that as merely a person building a house I am not eligible for many of the “incentives to green building” currently favored by our national and state governments.
If I put in a geothermal heat pump, I am eligible not to pay 5% state sales tax on it. If I put in a solar array, I can get a $2000 tax credit for spending $45,000. Big whoop. And If I register my house to qualify for Energy Star, I pay $250 and get back around $1500. Awesome. To get my house LEED certified, I pay over $2000 and get back… nothing. It will definitely cost me more to build “green” than if I ignored the whole thing and built whatever I pleased. And that is just wrong.
Why does our country dis-incent people to build better? Heck, I just read that Spain is going to require solar panels on new buildings.
I am going to do as much as I can anyway, simply because I should. But now, I can afford to do less because I have to fly solo on this. Where’s my support?
Maybe I’ll feel better tomorrow, but right now I’m getting quotes for geothermal that are more than twice what I have budgeted for our heating system, and I have to take away the PV system before I can even begin to think about it. And I’m not building with fancy kitchens and marble baths, either.
As an old friend says, “feels like pxssing up a rope.”