A bill sponsored by Senators John Hoeven of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia seeks to eliminate a mandate to reduce energy use in buildings:

[The] Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA 2007) ... contained Section 433, [which] requires that all new federal buildings and major renovations meet the 2030 Challenge targets – reducing fossil fuel energy consumption incrementally to carbon neutral by 2030.

With the Building Sector consuming almost 50% of all the energy produced in the U.S., Section 433 is intended to provide federal leadership for addressing climate change and moving the country toward energy independence. ...

This good news for the rest of us, is bad news for the demand-based fossil fuel industry. Not surprisingly, the AGA [American Gas Association], and its proxy in Congress, Senator Hoeven of North Dakota, wants to repeal Section 433. If the AGA and Hoeven are successful in passing the Hoeven-Manchin bill, or attaching it as an amendment to the modest Shaheen-Portman energy efficiency bill, it will be a slap in the face of the U.S. Building Sector for its energy reduction achievements made to date.