"Inside The Climate Battle Quietly Raging About US Homes" [1]
"Away from the headlines, there’s an important fight happening that is pitting real estate developers and utilities against efforts to make America’s new homes more climate friendly"
"Some challenges to US climate action are obvious – like when Donald Trump boasts about leaving the international Paris agreement and rolling back pollution rules.
But many more play out behind the scenes. One of those is the battle over efforts to make America’s new homes and buildings more energy-efficient.
On one side are the city and state officials trying to go greener, and on the other are real estate developers and the natural gas industry.
The International Code Council, which like the World Series largely concerns Americans, met this week on updating the baseline codes that most states and cities adopt for new buildings. The council is reviewing about two dozen proposals that would, for example, require builders to install electrical outlets near gas stoves that may one day be replaced with electric ones; and to wire enough power to garages where people may one day want to plug in electric cars."