It’s time industry leaders heard the green calling

God wants us to be green.

At least that’s what’s implied by the Southern Baptist Convention’s recent adoption of a more caring, less timid and less skeptical official stance on global warming.

But unless God is speaking directly through the mouths of the organization’s 16 million members, the doctrine change sounds more like a bottom-up decision than an edict from above.

In much the same way, many in the state’s building community heard their customers’ call and dedicated themselves to green-building techniques.

Wisconsin Builder, likewise, committed itself to creating a green issue.

Wisconsin’s contractors responded well thus far to the green calling.

But there’s one area in which the state’sconstruction leaders turned a deaf ear.

The industry needs to aggressively seek government help to pay for green-related training.

Taxpayer dollars flow freely to the state’s manufacturers for green initiatives, and it’s time for construction firms to grab their fair share.

The March announcement of a new Wisconsin Energy Independence Fund should have been the spark contractors needed to reach for that government money. The state expects to award about $15 million per year for 10 years through the program to make, among other things, clean-energy use widespread and cost-effective.

Construction could play a role in spreading clean energy, but the grant requirements essentially make the industry ineligible. On the surface, it’s easy to cast stones at state government for bending to the strong arm of manufacturing and its voting base.

As it turns out, the construction industry has no one but itself to blame.

After talking to a few folks who contractors pay to lobby government, I learned two things:

1. The construction industry historically avoids government subsidies for fear of regulation and unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles.

2. When the construction industry sees the need to learn something new, it goes out and pays for it.

Well, no one wants to take a serving from government coffers if it comes with a big helping of additional regulations, and it’s admirable that companies take the initiative to pay for training themselves.

But the construction industry should be less worried about potential regulations and more worried about the green requirements already being implemented for state projects.

Also, what about the contractors and subcontractors who are unable to afford the training? Plus if the money was available, what company wouldn’t take it?

For Wisconsin’s construction industry to take full advantage of the booming green economy, everyone, regardless of size or revenue stream, needs to learn the new processes and techniques.

The money is there. All the construction industry needs to do is ask for it.

That’s what manufacturing did.

I mean for God’s sake, if the Southern Baptists can change their ways, so can we.

— Lawrence Silver, Editor