On October 9, 2009, President Obama signed Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance. The purpose of the order was “to establish an integrated strategy towards sustainability in the Federal Government and to make reduction of greenhouse gas emissions a priority for Federal agencies.” The order also required:
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- Identification of an Agency Senior Sustainability Officer
- Establishment of the interagency Steering Committee on Federal Sustainability which consists of the Federal Environmental Executive and the Agency Senior Suitability Officers
The Executive Order also set a number of energy, water, and waste reduction targets for agencies to meet, including:
- 30% reduction in vehicle fleet petroleum use by 2020;
- 26% improvement in water efficiency by 2020;
- 50% recycling and waste diversion by 2015;
- 95% of all applicable contracts will meet sustainability requirements;
- Implementation of the 2030 net-zero-energy building requirement.
So, how much progress have federal government agencies made in on these goals since the order was signed? Quite a bit, actually.
Federal agency strategic sustainability performance plans are available for perusal on the White House Council for Environmental Quality web site. The White House also launched the GreenGov Challenge, which generated more than 5,000 ideas and 165,000 votes from 14,000 federal employees. The GreenGov Environmental Challenge Final Report is available here.
For more information on federal government environmental efforts, check out FedCenter.org, particularly the Sustainability section.