Green Options

A coalition of environmental groups have sued the federal government over the creation of transmission corridors that will perpetuate the use of coal-fired power throughout the West.

Environmental groups will sue Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and two other chemical cleaner manufacturers later today to demand that they release the ingredients to their products.

Attorneys from EarthJustice will file the suit on behalf the Sierra Club and American Lung Association and four other groups. The lawsuit will be filed in New York to take advantage of a seldom-used 1976 law against using phosphates in soaps.

Lawyers representing owners of waterfront property impacted by the 1.1 billion gallon spill of fly ash from Tennessee’s Kingston Fossil Plant have filed a lawsuit requesting $5 million in damages in addition to class action status for all residents affected by the massive spill.

Governments are beginning to mandate green building for some new construction, and that ought to be a cause for celebration. But because of the way these requirements are made, the possibility of problems arising when a building does not meet a required level of green building could lead to legal difficulties and lawsuits.