Scale of Agency Emissions Soon to be Revealed
For the first time, we are likely to see the size of federal agency emissions as each agency is forced to take stock of its overall energy use and conservation. President Obama’s executive order, number-514, places considerable emphasis on the carbon emissions of each department and calls for a plan to reduce the same.
The federal government is by far the largest user of energy and consequently the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the United States. It may be surprising that individual agency emissions have never been closely detailed, yet it is true that each agency is largely unaware of the scale of its own problem. The executive branch expects them to determine these details in short order and come up with a plan for the future.
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 has caused environmental advocates around the world to sharply criticize the US for recalcitrance. 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.
As Obama has said quite clearly that he is a supporter of containment, it could be argued that his executive order was to be expected. However, rather than setting the overall goal, the chief executive has asked each agency chief to determine its own problem and to suggest a percentage reduction package. This puts considerable pressure on each agency to analyze and determine.
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. Such a comprehensive analysis is a challenge and must be conducted down to a micro-level, if it is to be effective.
Within the next 10 years, agency emissions must be reduced by a yet to be stated, but surely considerable margin. To become sustainable, a goal must be measured against an established baseline and it will be necessary for each agency to adopt specific systems and solutions to help them understand this first.
Several major US agencies are responsible for issues related to climate change and environmental damage, but the majority of agencies and departments will no doubt have to take a crash course on energy reduction and sustainability.
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.
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