Joel Makower blogs infrequently but well at Two Steps Forward, where recently he described the vinyl industry’s attempts, so far successful, to insure that LEED green-building standards protect their private interests. He writes:
“The green-building industry is coming of age. And with that maturity comes growth, profitability—and big, well-heeled players seeking to stake their claim. In doing so, they often find that there’s enormous profit potential to be had by shaping the rules in their favor, never mind that doing so all but thwarts the environmental and social benefits intended in the first place.
“We’ve seen it in organics. We’re seeing it in green buildings. We’ll soon, I predict, be seeing even more of it as companies seek to claim ‘climate neutral’ status.”