After championing greener building codes, local governments lose right to vote

https://grist.org/article/after-championing-greener-building-codes-local-governments-lose-right-to-vote/?MessageRunDetailID= [login to see] &PostID=27137624&utm_medium=email&utm_source=rasa_io
It’s difficult to tell what is good, sometimes I feel our country is stuck between a rock and a hard place: to have local municipalities make building decisions that will be mostly political, or have the construction industry call the shots with advice from the locals. At the end of the day, it is my opinion we have to give the power to the people who can vote the politicians out of office. To me it’s scariest to have a faceless bureaucracy calling the shots that we can’t hold accountable. From what I see most politicians like this approach because it lifts the responsibility from them. That’s not how our country is supposed to work. MHO

The change, though technical and wonky, marks what environmental advocates say is one of the most consequential roadblocks to decarbonizing the U.S. economy. It also illustrates the limits of both the new Biden administration’s powers and the causes for which activists can mobilize public support. Local governments, members of Congress, environmentalists, and architects overwhelmingly opposed the proposal.

Under the new system, the building codes that govern energy systems and insulation ― once subject to a vote by the city and state governments tasked with implementing them ― will instead fall under a separate “standards” process that, despite soliciting input from local officials, will give industry more control over the outcome.

The American Institute of Architects called the decision “a step backwards for climate action” that “will no doubt erode progress towards the modern codes that are desperately needed to heal our planet.”