https://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/12/07/how-federal-adoption-of-a-green-building-standard-ships-american-jobs-overseas/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 10:46:55 -0400<![CDATA[Over the past several years, the federal government has adopted the US Green Building Council&#8217;s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Standards, or LEED for short. LEED sounds like a good way to ensure that buildings are built to reduce their energy impact, but the standards end up hurting the American timber industry. That is because despite the fact that different industry groups certify forestry around the US, LEED accepts just one standard, the Forest Stewardship Council or FSC. Though the US accounts for about 40% of the world&#8217;s certified forestry lands, only 20% of US timber is certified within the current LEED standard. The FSC, in turn, is a consortium of member companies that own foreign timber farms and import timber into the United States. Some US timber companies suspect that the FSC is opaque in its practices and may even engage in pay-for-play. Additionally, the FSC is known to work with left wing environmental groups including Forest Ethics and the Dogwood Alliance. These groups are aligned with various far left environmental, anti-US industry causes. Dogwood Alliance is aligned with the fringe Occupy movement. These groups step up and fight US timber companies and agitate to make it more difficult to persuade LEED to accept any other standard but that of the Forest Stewardship Council. Their aim is to curtail the US timber anywhere they can within the United States.]]>Fri, 07 Dec 2012 11:16:54 -0500<![CDATA[Bryan Preston]]>https://pjmedia.com/bryan-preston-1/2012/12/07/how-federal-adoption-of-a-green-building-standard-ships-american-jobs-overseas-n175436