Now that we've got a foothold, tenuousthough it may be, in recovery, it seems the talk is once againturning to sustainability. (We were all too busy trying to keep ourheads above water during the downturn to worry about green things,unless a tenant asked, and no one was leasing anyway, so...)

But this column isn't really about energy efficiency. It's morea rant against the apparent need of government to insinuate itselfinto the workings of the private sector. In preparation for thismonth's cover story (as well as for the Shape of Things to Comepanel I'll be moderating at BOMA's Every Building Show in Seattlethis June), I've spent a lot of time with the good folks of thatgroup. And the effort to educate/cajole/stop-dead-in-their-trackslegislators before they wreak havoc on this industry isongoing.

And it's not just BOMA. It's a united front of representativelobbying groups, such as the Real Estate Roundtable, NAREIT and afull alphabet soup of other DC-based associations representing yourinterests, both on Capitol Hill and at the local level.