The new executive order will now confront the largest polluter in the United States which is the federal government agencies. Prior to this new legislation, agencies never realized the scale of its emissions.
While the House of Representatives may have passed their own climate related Act during early 2009, it is not clear whether the Senate will act anytime soon regarding their own version. This caused supporters of environmental advocacy all over the world to openly criticize the US for being non-compliant. Obama’s executive order goes some way to appease the critics, as agency emissions account for a very considerable part of the country’s overall footprint.
Federal agencies are likely to be forced to report its energy use and emissions and will be compelled to practice energy conservation for the very first time. President Obama’s executive order, number 13514, places considerable emphasis on the carbon emissions of each department and calls for a plan to reduce the same.
President Obama has made it clear that the government should set itself as an example of entities that are taking climate change issues seriously by addressing reduction of energy use which are generated from traditional sources. Rather than setting a given standard, he has asked each chief to assume the scale of agency emissions and to determine their own percentage reduction goal. Agencies must now understand their position and report back soon.
The federal government now faces challenges which are surely to be assumed by other organizations in the years ahead. Each organization must be aware of its entire operation, how each of its assets uses energy and consequently pollutes the environment. To be fully effective, a comprehensive analysis of emissions needs to be done to a micro level.
President Obama’s 10-year plan targets reduction of carbon emissions for agencies which hopes for a significant reduction from overall emissions. Decision makers of agencies need to conduct a comprehensive analysis through solutions which are suited to each respective agency’s needs. Full disclosure and transparency will help achieve overall goals of sustainability.
There are hundreds of individual agencies, organizations and departments affected by Obama’s executive order. Some of the agencies might have directly focused on environmental issues but a big chunk might be very much unaware of addressing sustainability as well. It is true to say that each and every one of them will be experts on this subject in short order!
While calling for agency emissions to be reduced and existing systems and assets to be optimized for efficiency, the executive order also calls for a majority of new projects and buildings to be sustainable, to ensure that future growth is contained.
