WASHINGTON, DC — The Obama Administration has called on the United States’ 1.8 million civilian workers and members of the military to help carry out the president’s federal sustainability drive by participating in a brainstorming effort that’s intended to cull the best ideas on how to green the government.
"You're key to the success of this federal sustainability initiative," Nancy Sutley, chair of the Council of Environmental Quality, said in a video announcing the GreenGov Challenge last week.
The GreenGov Challenge runs through the end of the month. As of today, 2,353 ideas had been submitted to WhiteHouse.gov/GreenGov.
The suggestions are viewable by the public at WH.gov/greengov/ideas, but only federal workers and members of the military may submit their ideas and vote on ones they like.
In early November, an array of the top ideas will be given to the Steering Committee on Federal Sustainability. The group is made up of the senior official from each agency who is responsible for delivering the agency's sustainability plan.
In his executive order on federal sustainability on October 5, President Obama gave federal agencies a 90-day deadline to set 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and devise plans to lighten their environmental impacts.
The U.S. government uses almost 500,000 buildings, 600,000 vehicles and more than $500 billion in purchased goods and services each year.
"As the largest consumer of energy in the U.S. economy, the federal government can and should lead by example when it comes to creating innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, conserve water, reduce waste, and use environmentally-responsible products and technologies," the president said in signing the executive order.
The order directs agencies to meet a number of targets in addition to those each agency is to set for itself. The targets listed in the order include:
* A 30 percent reduction in vehicle fleet petroleum use by 2020;
* A 26 percent improvement in water efficiency by 2020;
* A 50 percent recycling and waste diversion by 2015;
* That 95 percent of all applicable contracts meet sustainability requirements;
* Implementation of the 2030 net-zero-energy building requirement.
Image courtesy of WhiteHouse.gov.