Transport
US government to cut its own emissions 28% by 2020
President Barack Obama announced a new executive order on Friday that requires the Federal Government to cut its own emissions 28% by 2020.
“As the largest energy consumer in the US, we have a responsibility to American citizens to reduce our energy use and become more efficient,” he said.
The US government spent over $24.5 billion on electricity and fuel in 2008 alone and implementing cuts will save $8-11 billion in costs.
Back in October, the President asked federal agencies to submit their own pollution reduction target for 2020 to the White House Council on Environmental Quality. The overall 28% target is an aggregate of the targets submitted by those 35 agencies.
The kind of measures that federal agencies will now have to commit to include shifting to clean energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal, installing energy management systems in federal buildings and replacing older fleet vehicles with fuel efficient hybrids.
The Office of Management and Budget will monitor each agency’s sustainability plan, with annual progress reported online to the public.
For further information:
www.whitehouse.gov/
www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/
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