‘A Real Scandal’: Democrats Slam Gas Industry’s Gutting Of Green Building Codes

WASHINGTON ― Four high-ranking congressional Democrats condemned a decision the private entity that sets the country’s default homebuilding guidelines made this week, which will gut requirements for new houses and offices to include the wiring for electric heaters, EV chargers and solar panels.

In November, trade associations representing the natural gas industry launched 11th-hour appeals to the International Code Council, the nonprofit consortium of local governments and industry groups in charge of writing the model building codes used in almost all U.S. states.

The gas groups asked the ICC to scrap new tweaks in its latest update to the codes that would make it cheaper for homeowners to go electric. While requiring the circuitry for electric appliances and vehicles might add a few thousand dollars to a new home’s asking price, it would cost the typical homeowner tens of thousands of dollars in renovations to rewire pre-built walls themselves.

The ICC’s appeals board rejected those asks earlier this month. But on Wednesday, the ICC’s board of directors overturned that ruling, stripping the pro-electrification provisions out of the latest codebook and handing gas utilities and furnace manufacturers a surprise victory.

“This is a real scandal,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) told HuffPost over email. “At the urging of fossil fuel companies, the ICC’s leadership has overruled its own experts and blocked code changes that would help electrify buildings and reduce reliance on fossil gas. This is a big setback for combatting climate chaos.”

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who has close ties to progressive climate movement groups, accused gas companies of “running up the tab for homeowners by attacking energy-efficient and