EENews (subscription required) reported yesterday that the organization “CO2 Is Green,” a front organization for energy companies, published a particularly rabble rousing ad in today’s Washington Post.
Because describing it is so much less satisfying, I reprint the ad in full here (you can see an image of the ad here):
The Kerry-Lieberman Cap and Trade Bill will drive the USA away from cheap efficient energy and permanently increase your cost of electricity, transportation fuel, and food.
Despite the promise of $200 million Smart Grid stimulus grant to BG&E in 2009 from the Department of Energy, according to BuildingGreen.com:
The Public Service Commission of Maryland rejected implementation of “smart grid” metering proposed by Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) in June 2010. The commission based the rejection on fears of rate increases and tiered pricing that would increase costs for consumers.
Other people have sued utilities in California and Texas over perceived issues
Recently there have been several cases of neighbors raising objections, valid or invalid, to green projects.
There was the Northland Pines case where community members challenged the LEED certification of a local high school. Recipients of smart meters sued the utilities claiming the smart meters wrongly measured their electricity use. Neighbors held up the Cape Wind offshore wind energy project for years. Neighbors even object to the placement of solar panels, most famously on Al Gore’s mansion in Tennessee.
Today I am going to highlight a bunch of interesting articles that have come out lately which interest me. Some of these will become future posts, but I want to highlight them as they come out to keep my readers up to date, and give you something to read in your spare time.
1. The USGBC issued a short white paper on Greening the Codes and the compatibility of LEED with green codes. It is very good, and makes the point
The Northland Pines LEED appeal (a complete history is available here) and the Deepwater Horizon spill illustrate an inherent problem in any regulatory system–there will always be people who are looking to avoid regulation and commit fraud, and there will always be regulators looking to protect the status quo of regulations.
Many people have called for the abandonment, execution and other stringing up of the LEED system because there are flaws, perhaps including the ones identified in the Northland Pines appeal. Just in the past few weeks, in addition to Northland Pines, we have seen criticism of the USGBC for its wood credits and its alleged failure to take into consideration human health issues. Frank Gehry, from his vaunted position as one of the world’s most famous architects, has fired his own shots at the LEED system, saying:
In the past few weeks, the Northland Pines Third Party LEED challenge has exploded, the Washington Building Industry Association sued the State of Washington to enjoin their energy code from taking effect, and a private lawsuit which could potentially turn into green litigation emerged onto the scene. In other words, the wave of green litigation which I first predicted back in 2007 has arrived.
| In a bold new risk publication out today from Lloyd’s of London, entitled Sustainable Energy Security: Strategic Risks and Opportunities for Business, the insurance heavyweight states in no uncertain terms that businesses that fail to prepare for short and long term energy crises face potentially catastrophic risks: |
Last week, I posted about why the case, Gidumal v. Site 16/17 Development LLC was not green litigation. In short, the case incorporates allegations regarding the green components of the project as support for its regular construction claims, not for failure to acheive green requirements. It got me to thinking–what would legitimate claims regarding green construction defects look like? To some extent, it depends on who the parties are and what damages they are looking to require.
My good friend and savvy LEED litigation sleuth Steve Del Percio uncovered a case filed in New York that involves, among other things, an allegation of failure of the heating system to perform properly. The luxury condominium building, at One and Two River Terrace in Manhattan was advertised as LEED Gold. The complaint alleges that an energy audit conducted by the plaintiffs revealed a deviation of “49% over the USGC LEED and BPCA standards in the cumulative size of holes and cracks allowing infiltration of cold air.”
Comprehensive federal environmental regulation does not come easily. First, there is the difficulty of crafting scientific regulations. Then there are the entrenched interests to be combated, both in the private sector, and with the states and local governments who may have had authority prior to federal regulation. Compounding these issues is the high cost of regulation and enforcement itself. Criticisms abound from the right–too much regulation–and the left–too little.
Green Building Law Blog (GBLB) sat down with Ari Kobb, Director of Green Building Solutions and Co-Chair of Sustainability Committee for Siemens Building Technologies Division to discuss the Siemens/McGraw Hill Construction Study on the Greening Of Corporate America. The study is available for download.
GBLB: What did Siemens intend to accomplish with the study?
What a difference the pond makes.
The E.U. passed strict energy efficiency regulations last week, requiring all new buildings constructed in Europe after 2020 to be virtually carbon-neutral. The goal, according to Reuters, is to reduce the 36% of GHG emissions attributable to Europe’s building stock:
“With buildings accounting for 36 percent of the EU’s greenhouse gases, improving their energy efficiency is also crucial for meeting the EU’s climate change goals,” said Turmes.
Contrast this approach to a recent veto by Wisconsin’s governor of a bill aimed at making a percentage of public buildings green. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported: