Obama announces greenhouse gas emission targets

US President Obama has announced that his administration will aim to reduce the federal government's greenhouse gas emissions 28% by 2020.

According to the press release on the White House website,

"As the single largest energy consumer in the U.S. economy, the Federal Government spent more than $24.5 billion on electricity and fuel in 2008 alone.  Achieving the Federal GHG pollution reduction target will reduce Federal energy use by the equivalent of 646 trillion BTUs, equal to 205 million barrels of oil, and taking 17 million cars off the road for one year.  This is also equivalent to a cumulative total of $8 to $11 billion in avoided energy costs through 2020."

“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,” said President Obama.  “Our goal is to lower costs, reduce pollution, and shift Federal energy expenses away from oil and towards local, clean energy.”

As I wrote here yesterday, the US government put a lot of emphasis on investment in the clean energy sector in the 2009 job stimulus package and in his State of the Union Address earlier this week, President Obama repeatedly mentioned (10 times to be exact) his government's intentions to continue down that path.

 

 

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