On Tuesday, hopefully you are planning on exercising your civic duty to vote.  Here at Green Building Law Update, we try to remain non-partisan but we could not ignore this monumental election.  Thankfully, though, the candidates have made it easy for us.  Did you know that a vote for either Barack Obama or John McCain will be a vote for green building? 

It’s true.  While the two candidates may hold substantially different opinions on other issues, both hold similar positions on green building energy efficiency standards:

"There really is a lot more alignment between the two platforms than folks may at first expect," says Jason Hartke, director of advocacy and public policy for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). "They both do a very good job of emphasizing energy efficiency in their platforms."

There are some differences in the specifics of each candidate’s green building policy and you can read more about Obama’s plan here and McCain’s plan here.  But the general positions are the same. 

  • Obama and McCain both support increased energy efficiency standards. 
  • Obama and McCain both want to "green" the federal government by applying a higher efficiency standard to government buildings. 
  • Obama and McCain both believe that global warming is real and that a cap-and-trade program should be instituted. 

You getting the picture yet?  If you cast your ballot on Tuesday for one of these two candidates, you are voting for change in federal environmental policy.  As these changes begin to take shape in 2009, is your business model ready to respond?  Maybe it’s time you start thinking about incorporating green building practices.     Related Links: