Hi everybody. This is my first ever blog post. If I went back in time to, say, 15 years ago, and I told myself that I would be doing a blog post, I wonder what the heck I would think my younger self was talking about? Blog post. Funny phrase. Anyhow…
Last week Katie Zemtseff authored an article in DJC about AGC of America’s unveiling of its “Building a Green Future” policy document. AGC of America released the document to protect the environment, improve our quality of life and all that, as well as to provide another avenue for job creation for an industry that continues to experience 20+ percent unemployment.
Take a look at the full document (click here). It includes an extensive list of 30 recommended steps policymakers – and contractors – could take to build a greener future. Here’s a sampling:
- Expand the energy efficient commercial building tax deduction from $1.80 per square foot to $3 per square foot. And convert the tax benefit into a tax credit.
- Preempt Clean Air Act for greenhouse gas emissions. Efforts to build green could be halted and delayed by heavy-handed regulation of buildings under the Clean Air Act through stationary source permitting programs that were never intended to address GHG emissions.
- Double investment levels in federal highway, transit, aviation, freight and rail programs. By increasing highway and road capacity and improving traffic flow at 233 bottlenecks nationwide, CO2 emissions would be reduced by as much as 77 percent.
- Incorporate environmental stewardship into day-to-day operations. Some construction companies have found that an environmental management system (EMS) is one way to remain competitive. An EMS is a company-wide, systems-based approach to managing environmental risk and voluntarily improving environmental performance.
Of the dozens of recommendations, which do you think are the most feasible, either physically doable or politically achievable? Any of these have particular appeal in Washington State? What else might have been included on the list?