Regulation--It really works

A number of posts have been popping up in the blogosphere about new regulations for green building and global climate change. For example, greenbuildingsnyc have a nice piece about the three green building regulations waiting for Governor Schwarzenegger's signature--http://www.greenbuildingsnyc.com/?p=314-- and Earth2Tech discusses John Doerr's speech at a Silicon Valley conference noting that the high-profile Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner called for greater participation by the government in driving greentech forward according to Earth2Tech--http://earth2tech.com/2007/09/26/john-doerr-we-need-government-to-drive-greentech/.

All of this is evidence of what I consider to be a governmental leadership vacuum at the federal level. Despite the historical success of large scale envrionmental regulation, like the Clean Water Act adn the Clean Air Act, and the recent success of requiring sustainable energy sources at the state level--http://sustainablog.blogspot.com/2007/09/maria-energia-numers-are-in-renewable.html-- at the climate meeting last week, George Bush is still pushing the market-based approach to dealing with environmental issues. http://www.thedailygreen.com/2007/09/28/president-bush-technology-and-trade-will-fix-global-warming/7340/

Recently, even the energy industry is seeking regulatory guidance. http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007333.html Businesses and citizens cannot thrive in a world of uncertainty, and global climate change is creating a lot of uncertainty. It is the government's obligation--indeed its highest use--to use regulation to create a more secure climate for people and business. The federal government has essentially let down its part of the social contract by failing to provide leadership--in the form of mandatory regulations--to address global climate change.