U.S. Government's Pursuit of Sustainability

As suggested here, I’ve been asked to do some work for a lobbying form in Washington DC, helping a few of their clients, where appropriate, apply for government grant money. The  process has heightened my awareness of the workings of government, and, as a consequence, the rhetoric used to describe our nation’s focus on sustainability.  Here’s a press release that really “lays it on with a trowel,” as my favorite grade-school English teacher used to say.

We’d all love to believe that our government was honestly concerned about all this good stuff, and acted consistently and effectively to save us money, trim bloat, protect our well-being, and conserve natural resources.  This, however, seems to be a clear case of “the lady dost protest too much, methinks.”

WASHINGTON — The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) continues to save taxpayer dollars by increasing energy efficiency and reducing pollution according to the recently released sustainability and energy performance scorecard for Fiscal Year 2012. GSA uses the Office of Management and Budget scorecard as a benchmark to identify and track progress toward meeting sustainability and energy performance goals. Under Executive Order 13514, President Barack Obama directed federal agencies to lead by example in clean energy and to meet a range of energy, water, pollution, and waste reduction targets.

“Going green saves green, and at a time of shrinking budgets GSA remains committed to helping government cut costs by increasing sustainability,” said Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini. “GSA continues to demonstrate ongoing progress towards implementing the President’s Executive Order targets, and is uniquely positioned to help other federal agencies meet their goals.”     

GSA has worked to green federal buildings through the use of innovative technologies such as solar panels, advanced lighting systems, geothermal technology, wind power, and low-flow plumbing systems. Last year, GSA reduced water usage in buildings by nearly 20 percent from FY 2007, ahead of its goal of 10 percent, leading to a cost avoidance of approximately $6.5 million. GSA avoided spending $65.5 million on energy in FY 2012 by reducing energy use intensity levels in its buildings by nearly 25 percent from FY 2003, ahead of its goal of 21 percent. The agency also exceeded its FY 2020 greenhouse gas reduction target in FY 2012, reducing emissions by more than 35 percent from FY 2008 levels — that’s equivalent to taking 162,000 vehicles off the road for a year.

In addition to being on track to meet its own sustainability goals, GSA procures sustainable products and services to help make a more sustainable government.