From MichiganVotes.org:
2011 Senate Bill 570: Allow certain log wall construction
Introduced by Sen. Michael Green, R-Mayville, to explicitly allow residential construction containing log walls if they meet requirements specified in the bill, including minimum average thickness of five inches, comply with “International Code Council standard ICC 400-2007,” and the “area weighted average u-factor for fenestration products in the log walls is a maximum of 0.31.”
On the one hand, the bill is a demonstration of the political system’s urge to regulate everything under the sun. However, the usual practice is to delegate the actual rulemaking to unelected bureaucrats, as in “the department shall promulgate rules” to do yadda yadda. In this case, the sponsor can be commended for not going that route.
Arguably, the bill may serve a purpose by making it easier for insurance companies to issue policies on such construction. It’s just a sad commentary on the extent to which our entire economy and society are being suffocated by an ever-expanding web of inter-related restrictions, prohibitions, mandates and regulated standards.
Can we ever get out from under this mess, and if so, how? This is how great civilizations become sclerotic and die — the barbarians only come after, to pick up the pieces.
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