Many of us were disappointed by the State of the Union address Wednesday night. Sure the president stressed the importance of a climate bill and clean energy development, but he also committed to pursuing more nuclear energy, new offshore oil drilling, and “clean” coal.
That makes today’s announcement that the Federal Government will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent by 2020 very welcome news. The largest energy consumer in the U.S. will cut its emissions by making gains in efficiency and using more renewable energy. The government spent $24.5 billion on electricity and fuel in 2008 alone and hopes to save $8 to $11 billion over the next decade through this initiative.
Each agency had to submit a 2020 emission reduction target from their 2008 baseline and the 28 percent reduction goal is an aggregate of those reports. The Office of Management and Budget will validate and score each agency’s plan and annual progress will by reported online to the public.
You can check out some of the emission cutting projects that are underway here.