Reducing Greenhouse Gas Pollution: Protecting Communities and Strengthening the Economy

In January 2010, President Obama announced that the Federal Government would reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its operations by 28 percent by 2020. In his announcement the President remarked, “As the largest energy consumer in the United States, we have a responsibility to American citizens to reduce our energy use and become more efficient.”

This goal wasn’t just about improving the operations of government, but about living up to the Federal Government’s responsibility to all Americans to improve our economy and environment. In meeting this pollution reduction target, the Government will help American taxpayers avoid up to $11 billion in energy costs.

In line with this effort, the Council on Environment Quality (CEQ) is releasing revised GHG emissions accounting guidance for Federal agencies. The draft proposes revisions to guidance released in October 2010, which established Government-wide requirements for measuring and reporting GHG emissions associated with Federal agency operations. As agencies learn from their experience implementing the initial guidance, we are applying this knowledge in our continual quest to make Federal emissions reporting as accurate as possible. 

As part of our Open Government initiative at CEQ, we are giving the public an opportunity to review this guidance and provide us with feedback. CEQ will review all public comments submitted in the next 30 days before finalizing the updated guidance.

We look forward to hearing from all of you as we continue to work toward the President’s goal to lower costs, reduce pollution, and transition to a cleaner, all-of-the-above energy strategy.

You can read the revised GHG plan and share your ideas here.

Nancy Sutley is Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality

Built to Last: Energy and the Environment in the Southwest

Editor's Note: This blog introduces readers to Neal R. Armstrong, Director of the Center for Interface Science: Solar Electric Materials at The University of Arizona.

CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley recently visited the University of Arizona (UA) to tour one of the nation’s hubs for energy research, the Center for Interface Science: Solar Electric Materials (CISSEM), and to discuss sustainability with leading researchers, administrators, and students. The visit followed President Obama’s State of the Union Address last month, in which he laid out a blueprint for an American economy that is “built to last,” including a strong focus on clean energy.

CISSEM is one of 46 Energy Frontiers Research Centers created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. These centers are focused on transformative innovations in renewable energy production that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and protect our environment.  Appropriate to Arizona’s photon-rich landscape, UA’s center is at the cutting edge of the effort to create solar cells that are economically competitive with fossil fuels. Such cells must be both relatively inexpensive to manufacture and efficient at converting sunlight into electricity.

Chair Sutley tours UA’s Energy Frontiers Research Center with Director Neal Armstrong. (Photo Credit: University of Arizona)

After visiting CISSEM’s laboratories, Chair Sutley was briefed on UA’s own sustainability efforts by Senior Associate Vice President for Business Affairs Bob Smith. In the Southwest, water management is a critical priority, and UA is conserving through efforts including waterless urinals, reclaimed water irrigation, water harvesting, xeriscaping, and irrigation scheduling. The University is also actively reducing energy consumption by installing photovoltaic and solar thermal panels on a number of campus buildings, lighting retrofits, combined heat and power plants, HVAC scheduling, high-efficiency boilers, smart thermostats, and more. 

Chair Sutley wrapped up her visit to the University of Arizona at a sustainability roundtable with UA scientists, administrators, and students, moderated by UA Provost Jacquelyn Mok. In her opening remarks, the Chair noted several of the challenges facing federal policymakers: How do we best take advantage of the information technology revolution? How do we think about federal assets in the face of a changing planet so that we can provide actionable information to local and regional managers? And, how do we change from a stovepipe mindset to bring a systems approach to managing natural resources and energy systems? Steered by Executive Dean Joaquin Ruiz, a focus on water echoed throughout the discussion, since water is a critical variable in all natural resource issues including energy production. The discussion ended with an impassioned plea from undergraduate Noelle Espinosa for continued federal support of our nation’s universities that foster innovative programs such as CISSEM and help lay the groundwork for a prosperous, sustainable future for America.

UA President Gene Sander introduces Chair Sutley to the sustainability roundtable. (Photo Credit: University of Arizona)

Neal R. Armstrong is Director of the Center for Interface Science: Solar Electric Materials at The University of Arizona

At Treasury, Green is Our Favorite Color – But We'll Take (LEED) Gold!

Editor’s Note: This blog was cross-posted from the U.S. Department of the Treasury Blog.

When you think about a “green” building, you probably don’t picture a centuries-old National Historic Landmark that’s lined with columns and made of thousands of tons of granite.

Well, maybe that’s about to change. I'm pleased to announce that the Treasury Building – which dates back to the 19th century and is located right next door to the White House – received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) at a ceremony today in our historic Grant Room.

According to the USGBC, the Treasury Building is believed to be the oldest building in the world to receive LEED certification. The fact that the home of much our nation’s financial history has achieved this distinction for environmental leadership really adds new meaning to the term ‘green’ building.

LEED is a leading international standard for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. The Treasury Building received its LEED Gold certification based on a number of green construction and operation features, including:

•Increasing the use of natural day lighting to reduce energy consumption;
•Establishing sustainable cleaning and landscape programs;
•Developing and implementing advanced control and management of the heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems;
•Conducting waste stream audits to benchmark recycling programs and identify opportunities to maximize material conservation;
•Creating a green procurement program for materials, equipment and services purchased
•Increasing occupant space utilization;
•Augmenting alternate transportation means; and
•Establishing enhanced utility metering for improved systems management

These improvements are paying big dividends. Not just for the environment, but also for the Department’s bottom line – because going green saves green for taxpayers. Project results, which are producing an estimated $3.5 million in energy and lease cost savings annually, include:

•A 43 percent decrease in the use of potable water
•A 7 percent decrease in electrical usage
•A 53 percent decrease in the use of steam
•The addition of 164 additional workstations within the building

The fact that we’ve been able to achieve those types of results is particularly significant given the unique historical and architectural features of the Treasury Building.

The Treasury Building is more than two city blocks long and was constructed over a period of 33 years between 1836 and 1869. The east and center wings – which comprise the oldest portion of the structure – were designed by Robert Mills, architect of the Washington Monument, and were built between 1836 to 1842. It’s the third-oldest federal building in Washington D.C., after the White House and the U.S. Capitol, and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1972.

We’re proud of the improvements we’ve made around the Treasury Building – both big and small – to help reduce our environmental footprint and save taxpayer dollars. They’re part of a broader Administration-wide effort, which includes President Obama’s recent $2 billion commitment to energy upgrades of federal buildings using long term energy savings to pay for up-front costs, at no cost to taxpayers.

But Treasury’s environmental initiatives represent just a few of the steps we’ve taken to cut waste and improve efficiency.

•We’re continuing to transition to electronic payments for federal beneficiaries and retirees, which will save more than $500 million over the first five years. That also has a significant environmental benefit by converting approximately 135 million paper check payments to electronic payments per year.
•Last week, Vice President Biden and Secretary Geithner announced that the United States Mint is suspending production of surplus Presidential $1 Coins for circulation, which will save at least $50 million annually over the next several years.
•The Department’s work to increase e-filing of tax returns will save more than $100 million over five years.
•A set of projects we’re implementing to consolidate IT services will save an estimated $125 million over five years.
•Earlier this year, Treasury received “green” ratings across-the-board on its energy and sustainability scorecard from the Office of Management and Budget and White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Of course, we’re not satisfied with those initiatives alone. And, moving forward, we’ll continue to work to identify additional ways to save money for taxpayers and improve our Department’s environmental efficiency. (As you might be able to tell, we’re pretty competitive when it comes to our environmental sustainability efforts here at Treasury.)

For now, though, receiving LEED GOLD certification is a certainly welcome achievement and represents the culmination of a lot of hard work by a number of dedicated public servants here at the Department.

At Treasury, green is our favorite color – but we’ll take gold!

Dan Tangherlini is Assistant Secretary for Management, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Performance Officer, and Director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Lending Federal Support as Communities Prepare for Impacts of Climate Change

Last week the Administration released a report that outlines how the Federal Government is expanding and strengthening the Nation's capacity to better understand, prepare for, and respond to the risks associated with climate change. From the Federal Government's perspective, adapting to the impacts of a changing climate is simply responsible risk management. Working together, communities and the Federal Government can reduce long-term risks and costs, including from projected increases in extreme weather events.

Here's what others have to say about the importance of this interagency work to build resilience and protect people, property and economies across the country:

Mayor Mark Mallory, Cincinnati, OH
"Climate scientists tell us that Cincinnati will experience more frequent and more severe storms as a result of climate change. More frequent and more severe summer heat waves are expected as well. The Cincinnati region is just beginning to identify the things that we will need to do to be prepared for these weather changes. Just like cities plan for natural disasters or outbreaks of the flu, we need to prepare for the effects of climate change."

Aaron N Durnbaugh, Climate Adaptation Coordinator, City of Chicago
"As a local government working to prepare our city, citizens and natural resources for a changing climate, the City of Chicago is encouraged to see the coordinated federal climate action presented in the 2011 progress report. The federal efforts supporting cities including building local resilience and making climate science accessible, will create the resilient, healthy and prosperous City envisioned by the Chicago Climate Action Plan and, in turn, the resilient nation envisioned by the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force."

Mark Tercek, President and CEO, Nature Conservancy
"We commend the Administration's Climate Change Adaptation Task Force on continued progress toward preparing our nation for coping with the impacts of climate change. We're pleased that the Administration continues to emphasize the essential role natural systems play in protecting Americans from climate impacts. As just one example, our barrier islands and floodplains have protected America's communities from storms for millennia and we need to ensure they continue to do so."

Laura Spanjian, Sustainability Director, City of Houston
"The City of Houston is beginning to implement adaptation strategies and tools to address the impacts and risks associated with climate changes that affect Houston's water resources and coastal zones, among other systems. Sustained funding from federal agencies will help cities employ proactive measures, instead of only short-term reactive measures that are detrimental to human livelihood, as well as being cost-prohibitive."

Brian Holland, Director of Climate Programs, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability USA
"The Council on Environmental Quality's Progress Report on Adaptation demonstrates the success achieved by federal agencies in building resilience in partnership with local communities. In working with our 550 local government members in the US, ICLEI has clearly identified a need for local-federal climate collaboration and has seen critical federal resources in action. This report lays the groundwork for continued partnership with the cities and counties that are on the front lines of extreme weather events and climate resilience."

J. Wayne Leonard, CEO, Entergy Corporation
"A meaningful discussion on climate change cannot stop at mitigation. The solutions must also include adapting to and resilience against its most negative consequences. Today's report recognizes that the livelihoods of people living in coastal communities, the sustainability of rich natural resources that support our economy and the security of residential, commercial and industrial assets are at great risk if we don't devise and implement plans to protect against, and recover from, the adverse effects associated with climate change."

Bennett Freeman, Vice President for Sustainability and Research, Calvert Investments
"Investing in climate preparations can create American jobs at home and spur exports abroad. We support efforts by the Administration to prepare for and respond to climate change impacts in vulnerable communities." 

Jim Taft, Executive Director, Association of State Drinking Water Administrators
"ASDWA appreciates the efforts of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force in developing this Action Plan. We believe the six principal recommendations of the Action Plan (along with the various supporting actions) are sound and appropriate. In particular, the call for the compilation of the best available data/information, coupled with use of appropriate decision-making tools will be of considerable benefit to drinking water utilities as they consider meeting both the quantity and quality challenges posed by a changing climate. We also support the holistic approach to this challenge under the banner of integrated water resources management (e.g., promoting both efficient use of currently available water resources as well as careful consideration of future water resources). The Action Plan should prove beneficial to both drinking water utilities and state drinking water programs as they consider their future roles and actions."

Paul Fleming, Manager, Climate & Sustainability Group, Seattle Public Utilities
"Identifying, assessing and managing the risks and opportunities associated with climate change is not just about understanding the physical impacts of climate change, but also the managerial, technical and policy implications. From strengthening data observation systems, to calling for stronger coordination between federal and local governments to promoting flexible decision making, the National Action Plan reflects the multi-dimensional nature of the intersection between climate change and water."

Ken Kirk, Executive Director, National Association of Clean Water Agencies
"Climate change will affect water more than any other resource, and NACWA commends CEQ for recognizing the challenges facing wastewater utilities in adapting to and in mitigating the impacts of climate change. NACWA is especially pleased that CEQ recognizes the importance of integrated water resources management for managing these impacts, and the need for improved data to enable utilities to make better long-term decisions in the face of climate change. With utilities facing huge financial challenges as a result of the economic downturn, studies that help in planning for the additional costs and investment that climate change will necessitate are particularly helpful."

Susan Ruffo is Deputy Director for Climate Change Adaptation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality