Executive Order 13514 Focuses On Federal Agency Emissions

As President Obama seeks to promote change within the departments in the government, federal agencies are now getting attention with regards to issues related to climate change.

The order, routinely tagged as EO13514, specifies that each agency must produce a plan and submit to the executive branch in short order. The plan calls for the declaration of a percentage reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 years.

Obama has left it up to each head to analyze its own agency emissions and to decide what percentage reduction is most appropriate. This will call for a considerable effort by the agency management, as it is widely believed that the government does not have a clear idea of the size of its carbon footprint to start off with.

President Obama seeks to sweep federal agencies. Obama as he seeks to change the focus of attention within government departments. President Bush was not known for his support of climate related issues in general and Obama's new executive order now places the issue of agency emissions front the center.

The US government is still one of the largest users of energy which can directly correlate to its large contribution to agency emissions. This is already a big problem that needs to be urgently addressed which leads to the Congress to debate on introducing a legislation which encompasses the industries and commercial sector to comply with the same.

A full life cycle analysis will help any organization get the grips of the cost of its assets and achieve sustainability at the same time.

While there is some doubt as to when or whether such legislation may pass, or whether indeed it might be watered down or not, Obama recognized that he could implement change by himself in areas over which he has direct control.

In order for agency emissions levels to be completely understood, each agency and department within must conduct a full life cycle analysis and get to grips with the true cost of each asset within its control. Consequently, it will no longer be a traditional mindset as it used to be that any asset that is not operating at its peak efficiency is not truly sustainable.

Executive Order 13514 is On of Obama's Breakthrough in Addressing Carbon Emissions Reduction

Agency management must look to the introduction of specifically tailored software solutions and systems to help them comply with the terminology of this latest executive order.

In a relatively short space of time, agency chiefs must gather the information necessary to enable them to compile a greenhouse gas inventory, judge the size of their carbon footprint and work out how they are going to reduce agency emissions over the next decade.

In so far as protecting the environment is concerned, EO 13514 is probably one of the most significant in President Obama's administrative tenure. It remains to be seen how successful each agency is in its quest to become a good citizen and to do its bit for environmental protection and climate change.

At the very least, the executive order will bring additional and considerable attention to the overall problem.