Council on Environmental Quality Blog

Traveling Across California to Celebrate America's Great Outdoors

We hit the road last week to visit locations across California with a focus on the America's Great Outdoors Initiative. We began Wednesday with Congressman Thompson at Yolo Wildlife Refuge in Davis. The well over 50,000 acres refuge is the product of California residents who came together to form a local and Federal, public/private partnership in order to preserve a critical habitat for migrating birds and create a beautiful space for schoolchildren to learn about the wonders of wilderness. After spending the early morning in the refuge's wetlands, we held a successful listening session at University of California, Davis, affording us the opportunity to hear the ideas of a few hundred Northern Californians.

CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley, Yolo Wildlife Refuge Manager Dave Feliz, EPA Region IX Associate Director Jovita Pajarillo, CEQ Associate Director for Policy Outreach Amy Salzman, and U.S. Representative Mike Thompson at the Yolo Wildlife Refuge.

GreenGov: Leading by Example towards a Clean Energy Economy

When President Obama signed an Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance in October 2009, he committed the Federal Government to lead by example, practice what we preach, and help build a clean energy economy through how we operate.
 
The most important resources we have by far towards reaching those goals are our colleagues in Federal and military service. The ideas they've shared for how to meet them – through the GreenGov Challenge and Collaborative – are among the best ideas we've heard so far. Many agencies are already putting them into practice, whether it's replacing the Styrofoam cups at their cafeterias with compostable cups, or installing energy efficient lighting systems in their buildings.

Involving our colleagues in achieving the far-reaching aims of the Executive Order was specifically called out in the President's challenge, and so was celebrating their successes. Today, we're announcing the GreenGov Presidential Awards to highlight exceptional achievements in advancing sustainability in Federal operations. Federal and military personnel, projects, programs, and facilities are eligible, and nominations are open from June 29 – July 29.

I encourage you all to visit www.fedcenter.gov/greengovpresidentialawards to learn about the awards categories, and to submit your nominations. Winners will be recognized during the 2010 GreenGov Symposium, a three-day educational forum on best practices, challenges, and cutting-edge strategies for greening the government.

The GreenGov Symposium, which is presented by the Council on Environmental Quality and hosted by The George Washington University, will be held on October 5-7, 2010, in Washington, D.C. This will be the first time the Obama Administration will bring together leaders from Federal, state and local governments, nonprofit and academic communities, and the private sector to share expertise and engage in dialogue about greening the Federal Government.
 
We are looking forward to being thrilled, excited, and even overwhelmed by the volume of extraordinary nominations we'll receive over the course of the next month. The Federal Government is the single largest energy consumer in the US economy - we operate nearly 500,000 buildings, and we purchase a half-trillion dollars worth of goods and services every year. We are looking forward to showcasing how we are transforming the way we work to lead by example for our environment and a clean energy economy.

Michelle Moore is the Federal Environmental Executive