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You know you’ve found a winning environmental strategy when red states start building green–really. The strategy is the LEED Green Building Standard developed by the US Green Building Council. The LEED standard awards points to buildings that employ environmentally friendly materials, energy efficiency, and other environmentally friendly design techniques. Over 50 state and local governments–including Idaho’s Ada County–have written some kind of LEED-certification incentives into government building codes. Last Spring, the county cut the ribbon on its new LEED-certified County courthouse.

You also know you’re on the right track when big corporations try to deflate your strategy by rolling out a watered-down version of their own–usually with a flashier logo, and a much bigger marketing budget. Enter “Green Globes”, a half-strength green building program ostensibly backed by a full-strength collection of old school industry trade associations calling themselves the “Green Building Initiative“, but staffed by PR hacks from Louisiana Pacific, and headquartered in a PR firm just down the street from their former (current?) employer. In a targeted strategy to undermine the significant momentum building behind LEED green building standards, industry lobbyists are parachuting into state and county capitols across the country to push for inclusion of Green Globes in government building codes.

Thus far, the LEED standard has been able to hold its own, ceding ground to Green Globes in only a handful of cases. Even so, it might be worth asking your county or municipal government’s what they’re doing to promote green building. While imitation may be the sincerest form of flatery–in the case of Green Globes, it’s lacking on substance.

• **Free RAN t-shirt to anyone who can provide a documented list of funders to the “Green Building Initiative.”**