In May 2003, anti-PVC forces got a tremendous boost when the vinyl industry dropped its lawsuit contesting New York States refusal recognize vinyl as a green material and thus qualify for a state tax-credit. The states new (2000) green building by-laws are the most progressive in the nation, and the PVC industry, through its front, the Resilient Flooring Association, put its substantial financial resources behind legal action intended to intimidate reform-minded governments. The industry was forced to backtrack before the growing public and state awareness of PVC impacts, and it withdrew its suit just days before an anticipated State Supreme Court ruling expected to go against the industry (Toloken, 2003). The struggle against PVC continues, however, to be touchstone for the green building movement. As of early 2005, it is the single most contentious issue within the U.S. Green Building Council, which has apparently been under growing pressure from the vinyl industry (and manufacturing interests generally) as the USGBCs LEED building assessment system has become more popular and influential (L. Baker, 2004). Although many green building and community health activists have been shocked that LEED has not yet taken a definitive position against PVC (Healthy Building Network, 2005b), this situation in a sense testifies to the radical potential of green building assessment in industrial transformation. As is true with other kinds of green materials, development of PVC alternatives depends on a combination of regulatory initiatives, economic instruments, and demandcreation for the alternatives. These measures can also speed up development and application of growing scientific knowledge about benign plant-based plastics and other alternatives. In Chapter VI, I will look more closely at community-based market