Sustainability Street: The U.S.’s Sudden Role Reversal

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in.

Last month, I chatted with Elizabeth Beardsley, senior policy counsel for the U.S. Green Building Council, about the state of climate action in the U.S. and globally. Despite concerns that our next president would be less eco-friendly than President Biden, Beardsley said there was optimism that sustainable progress in the U.S. and abroad would continue.

Three weeks into Trump administration, that optimism has been rattled. On inauguration day, President Trump rescinded Biden-era executive orders that sought to put climate action and environmental justice front and center, he shifted the country away from renewable energy and he froze Congressionally-approved funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. He has also took aim at environmental regulation. Similar actions have followed.

For this episode, I discuss the effects of the president’s early actions with Ben Evans, Federal legislative director for the U.S. Green Building Council—what they mean for commercial real estate, the nation and the world.

*”Shock and awe” comes to sustainability (1:22)

*An international retreat (3:59)

*The funding freeze and the Inflation Reduction Act (6:47)

*Unplugging the electrification push (10:40)

*The loss of GSA leadership (12:12)

*The shift back to fossil fuels (13:50)

*Deregulation concerns (15:40)

*The road ahead (19:50)