Target: Chairman for the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Ron Wyden.
Goal: Don’t ban the government from using effective green building programs.
The Shaheen-Portman Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act is an important piece of legislature serving to increase the use of energy efficient technologies within the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of our economy. It also, in encouraging the move to a more environmentally-friendly infrastructure, provides a means of fostering job creation. This mutual economic and environmental benefit makes the bill a vital building block with which to set forth the foundation for the nation’s future. As such, it is important that this bill be not diluted by unnecessary amendments such as the one currently being proposed within the senate.
The proposed amendment, should it pass, would arbitrarily ban the federal government from using effective and already proven green building programs such as the LEED green building ratings system. This system provides building owners with an internationally recognized framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations, and maintenance solutions. These highly useful and valuable programs belong under the blanket of this act, not left to wither and die because of unnecessary legislation.
The amendment would not merely ban LEED from use in federal projects; it would also exclude many widely used systems such as the variety of codes utilized by the International Code Council. There is no reason to restrict the use of construction standards to those that are certified by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) alone, as would be required by the amendment. If the government is to be able to continue to utilize all appropriate tools with which to conduct green operations it must continue to allow for programs such as LEED. Any amendments to what would be accepted only serve the efforts of special interest lobbying, not the nation or environment as a whole.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Chairman Wyden,
It is extremely important that the Shaheen-Portman Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act remain intact as an unamended piece of legislature. This critically important bill is a means by which our nation may increase the use of energy efficient technologies within the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of our economy. The result of this ecological emphasis is the additional benefit of new and continuing job opportunities being created in order to attend the aforementioned adjustment to energy efficient technologies. This is why the amendment on S761 as currently proposed is completely unacceptable.
This amendment would result in an arbitrary ban of the federal government from using green programs that have already been proven highly effective such as the LEED green building ratings system. This system has shown to be an already proven means with which to provide building owners with an internationally recognized framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations, and maintenance solutions. It would be extremely counterproductive to remove the possibility of utilizing such programs.
The LEED program would not be the only item banned by the proposed amendment. The amendment would also ban the use of many widely used systems such as the variety of codes utilized by the International Code Council. These are all important tools that should not be restricted merely to allow items only falling under the curtain of the American National Standards Institute. Please take the important step of not bowing to special interest considerations by voting down the amendment on S761, allowing this bill the freedom to operate as necessary and not be restricted by unnecessary standards.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
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