Contrary to common belief that nothing is really happening in
green building at the Congressional level these days,
I provide the following two counterexamples. Of course,
neither of these efforts are designed to promote energy efficiency
or green building, but that doesn't mean that nothing is
happening.
An amendment to the Senate Appropriations Bill for Energy
and Water introduced by Senators Wicker (R-MS), Boozman (R-AR), and
Inhofe (R-OK) would essentially eliminate the use of LEED and
Energy Star for DOE green building programs. According to the
NRDC:
This rider would prevent the Department of Energy (DOE) from
using strong green building energy rating standards. The amendment
limits DOE to using only green building standards that are
developed and approved in accordance with American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) rules. Such a requirement would
effectively limit DOE to using only the National Association of
Home Builders (NAHB) and Green Globes
