Bipartisan legislation that focused on energy efficiency standards such as water heaters with smart meters, ways to reduce home utility bills, and cheaper heating and cooling systems for office buildings failed in the U.S. Senate earlier this month.
While the bill had broad support, the introduction of an amendment on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline poisoned the well.
Proposed by Rob Portman (R-Ohio), the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act (ESIC) didn’t make it to a vote after the amendment was added to approve the Keystone pipeline extension ahead of the Obama Administration’s decision on whether to allow the pipeline to go forward.
As a result, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) refused to allow a vote on a Keystone pre-approval amendment to the bill, and the amendment’s supporters retaliated by blocking a vote on the main bill.
Many Democrats and climate activists oppose the Keystone pipeline. Portman reportedly called the bill’s failure “yet another disappointing example of Washington’s dysfunction.”
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2012 Reconstruction Award Special Recognition: Joplin Interim High School, Joplin, Mo.
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2012 Reconstruction Award Bronze Winner: DPR Construction, Phoenix Regional Office, Phoenix, Ariz.
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2012 Reconstruction Award Bronze Winner: Pomeroy Senior Apartments, Chicago, Ill.
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2012 Reconstruction Award Bronze Winner: Walsh Group Training and Conference Center, Chicago, Ill.
With its Building Team partners—architect Solomon Cordwell Buenz, structural engineer CS Associates, and M/E engineer McGuire Engineers—Walsh Construction, acting as its own contractor, turned the former automobile showroom and paperboard package facility into a 93,000-sf showcase of sustainable design and construction.
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2012 Reconstruction Award Silver Winner: 220 Water Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.
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2012 Reconstruction Award Silver Winner: Residences at the John Marshall, Richmond, Va.
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2012 Reconstruction Awards Silver Winner: Allen Theatre at PlayhouseSquare, Cleveland, Ohio
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2012 Reconstruction Awards Gold Winner: Wake Forest Biotech Place, Winston-Salem, N.C.
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