(image credit: whitehouse.gov)
From EcoWatch:
The federal government contributes only modestly to the U.S.’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But hoping to spur others into action, President Obama announced today that he will issue an executive order that will cut the federal government’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40 percent by 2025, including across its entire supply chain.
“As part of his commitment to lead by example to curb the emissions that are driving climate change, today President Obama will issue an executive order that will cut the federal government’s greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent over the next decade from 2008 levels—saving taxpayers up to $18 billion in avoided energy costs—and increase the share of electricity the Federal Government consumes from renewable sources to 30 percent,” said a White House statement. “Complementing this effort, several major federal suppliers are announcing commitments to cut their own GHG emissions.”
The new actions and commitments are expected to reduce GHG emissions by 26 million metric tons from 2008 levels by 2025. The administration is also releasing its Federal Supplier Greenhouse Gas Management Scorecard where the public can track GHG emissions for all major federal suppliers and their progress in reducing them. Together, these suppliers receive more than 40 percent of all federal contract dollars, more than $187 billion dollars, with Lockheed Martin, which already has and discloses emissions targets, leading the list at more than $32 billion.
http://ecowatch.com/...
Many of the companies already on board with this plan appear to be the heavy hitters of the MIC (military industrial complex). From whitehouse.gov:
GE
GE, a global infrastructure and finance company, launched a line of environmentally responsible products in 2005 to accelerate innovation and growth in a resource constrained world through efficient and intelligent solutions. By the end of 2014, GE had invested $15 billion in R&D to develop more efficient technologies and generated approximately $200 billion in revenue from these products. In addition GE committed in 2005 to reduce its water use and GHG emissions -- by the end of 2013, GE had reduced its global GHG emissions by 34 percent from 2004 and water use by 45 percent from 2006. To continue this progress, GE has announced 2020 commitments to invest a cumulative $25 billion in R&D and reduce water and greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from a 2011 baseline.
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Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation, a global security company, is committed to environmental sustainability leadership. Northrop Grumman has announced its 2020 environmental sustainability goals: to reduce absolute GHG emissions 30 percent from 2010 levels; to reduce water consumption by 20 percent from 2014 levels; and to achieve a 70 percent solid waste diversion rate. As of year-end 2013, Northrop Grumman reduced its GHG emissions intensity by 26.5 percent relative to sales from 2008 levels and achieved its inaugural GHG reduction goal two years early. This performance resulted in the reduction of more than 260,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
United Technologies
United Technologies Corporation (UTC), a global aerospace and commercial building industries company, has reduced GHG emissions in its own operations by more than 30 percent since 2007. On the product side, the company’s Carrier business calculates that installations of its high-efficiency heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems since 2000 have avoided the release of more than 164 million metrics tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. And UTC’s Pratt & Whitney business’s innovative PurePower jet engine cuts carbon emissions by over 3,600 metric tons per aircraft per year – equal to planting more than 900,000 trees. UTC is committed to continuing its absolute GHG reduction and later this year will release new goals to be achieved by 2020.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/...
The list also includes Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Humana, IBM and others. Representatives from these companies are having a round table meeting today with President Obama at the White House.
Update 1: In a related story...
POTUS Quietly Working on Largest-Ever Global Climate Change Agreement
From Politico:
President Barack Obama is quietly but steadily working behind the scenes on what could become one of his signature achievements: a global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
What he’s seeking out of the December U.N. climate talks in Paris would create the broadest, farthest-reaching deal in history, reworking environmental regulations for governments and corporations around the world and creating a framework for global green policy for decades.
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The next nine months will be marked by a series of meetings and interim deadlines. By the end of March, the State Department will put out its proposal for meeting the emission-cut target as part of the China deal. By May, the U.N. will release the basic areas of negotiation for the Paris talks. And then in December, Obama is expected to travel to Paris to seal the deal.
http://www.politico.com/...
http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/...