Carpet & Rug Institute Endorses Green Chemistry Ac

Washington, DC, Mar. 17--The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), testified today before the House Committee on Science, endorsing the Green Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2004 and calling for incentives and grants for industries innovating green chemistry while growing the US workforce. The committee heard testimony from Steve Bradfield, chairman of the CRI Market Issues Committee. "Green chemistry has long been valued by the carpet industry. No other building material industry has committed a comparable level of resources or achieved as much progress in indoor air quality improvement," said Bradfield, referring to CRI's voluntary indoor air quality program that was introduced 12 years ago, known as the "Green Label" Testing Program. As a proactive, innovative partner in green chemistry, he added that industry should have a voice in defining the research and development agenda. Bradfield further noted that the carpet industry is one of the last bastions of US textile manufacturing, with annual carpet production and consumption contributing $13 billion to the US economy. On behalf of the industry, Bradfield endorsed adoption of the Green Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2004 with the suggestions that Congress encourage a cooperative effort among government, academia, and business; that Congress seek additional incentives to reward those companies that commercialize green chemistry developments; that obstacles to the green chemistry process be removed from current federal environmental programs; and that adoption of green chemistry in the broader context of sustainable product development should become a primary instrument of pollution prevention policy in the United States with the additional goals of job creation and economic improvement. "We believe that rewarding those that commercialize green chemistry developments with research and development grants, tax incentives, and preferential federal purchasing programs will drive the desired advances in green chemistry," said Bradfield. Bradfield urged that the Interagency Working Group, which would be established by this legislation, work closely with industry to set ambitious and realistic goals for on-going chemistry programs.