Obama Leads by Example on Energy Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability

With the stroke of a pen, President Barack Obama today put the United States government on a new course toward energy efficiency and environmental responsibility by signing an executive order [pdf] that sets sustainability goals for federal agencies and gives them 90 days to set a greenhouse gas emissions target for 2020.

The executive order also requires federal agencies to:

• Reduce fleet petroleum consumption 30 percent by 2020
• Increase water efficiency 26 percent by 2020, and improve stormwater management
• Achieve 50 percent recycling and waste diversion by 2015
• Use federal purchasing power to promote environmentally responsible products and to encourage sustainable business practices among federal vendors and contractors--from the way goods are produced to how they are transported--by requiring 95 percent of applicable contracts to meet sustainability requirements
• Support sustainable communities by following the Livability Principles developed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The federal government is the nation's largest consumer of energy. It occupies half a million buildings, operates more than 600,000 vehicles, employs more than 1.8 million civilian workers, and buys more than $500 billion in goods and services each year.

In a statement issued by the White House, President Obama said the federal government "can and should lead by example when it comes to creating innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, conserve water, reduce waste, and use environmentally responsible products and technologies."

The executive order also requires agencies to make their sustainability plans and programs transparent, which includes making the annual scorecard for each agency available to the public. Each agency will have a sustainability officer, and agency heads and employees will be held accountable for meeting the new energy efficiency goals.

"As always, energy efficiency is a win-win policy for our economy, our national security, and the world's environment," said Kateri Callahan, president of Alliance to Save Energy. "Energy efficiency also will be a win for America's taxpayers, who will see their 'bill' for the government's energy and water use go down as the efficiency and sustainability targets are met."

"The challenge going forward is to provide agencies with the resources - appropriations, technical assistance, and direction from agency heads - that will enable them to meet the mandates," Callahan added.

President Bush also issued an executive order on government energy efficiency during his presidency, but it excluded any mention of greenhouse gas emissions and wasn't nearly as comprehensive in setting sustainability goals and creating a framework to help agencies achieve them.

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