by Brianna Crandall — November 7, 2014—As part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, on October 31 federal agencies released their plans for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for climate change impacts such as flooding, sea level rise, severe weather and temperature extremes.
These agency Sustainability Plans and Climate Change Adaptation Plans coincide with the fifth anniversary of the president’s 2009 Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance, which set aggressive energy, climate and environmental targets for agencies, and detail how their actions have already reduced the federal government’s direct greenhouse gas emissions by more than 17% since 2008 — the equivalent of permanently taking 1.8 million cars off the road, estimates the White House.
To recognize extraordinary achievement in pursuit of the president’s federal sustainability goals while providing “the vital services American communities depend on,” the White House also announced the winners of the 2014 GreenGov Presidential Awards, honoring federal agency teams and individuals who are taking innovative approaches to curbing waste, reducing energy use, and saving taxpayer money in federal agency operations.
And to seek the best ideas for new climate and sustainability initiatives from the federal community, the White House launched the GreenGov Challenge, an online tool for federal employees from across the country to suggest and vote on ideas for new ways to meet the president’s sustainability goals.
Climate Change Adaptation Plans
The climate change impacts that are hitting communities across the country — ranging from more severe droughts and wildfires to record heat waves and damaging storms — are also affecting federal facilities, operations and resources. The president directed agencies to assess their vulnerabilities to these impacts in Climate Change Adaptation Plans and outline how they will protect federal programs and taxpayer investments.
For example, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) found that 66% of its assets are within 16 feet of mean sea level and located along America’s coasts, and that the United States’ access to space is currently being threatened by beach erosion that will accelerate with sea level rise and increased storm intensity. Additionally, electrical black-outs and brown-outs associated with heat waves threaten energy utilities that power NASA facilities that receive and process data from space.
The agency plans outline steps they will take to address these issues and incorporate climate change considerations into their decision-making. These include:
- The Department of Commerce (DOC) plans to stimulate new technologies and initiatives to build resilience in American communities;
- The General Services Administration (GSA) will work to identify and address vulnerabilities in agencies’ data center, telecommunications equipment and services supply chains;
- A Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) initiative will require higher flood elevation for HUD-funded hospitals, housing, and other vital community resources; and
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to release case studies from state and city health departments that have conducted climate vulnerability assessments.
Agencies are also working to factor resilience to the effects of climate change into grant-making and investment decisions and in the design and construction of new and existing agency facilities and infrastructure. The current agency Climate Change Adaptation Plans (scroll past the Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans) build on the first set of plans, which was released in February 2013.
Sustainability Plans
To do its part to help prevent the worst impacts of climate change, as the largest energy user in the nation, the federal government must also lead by example to reduce its emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases, asserts the White House. In 2010, the president set a goal for the federal government to reduce its direct emissions of greenhouse gases by 28% by 2020. The federal government is on track to meet that goal, having already reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 17%. In their fiscal year 2015 Sustainability Plans, agencies outline the actions they will take to continue their progress. Examples include:
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will reduce heating and cooling loads at its labs and further save energy by converting from constant to variable air flow systems that respond to ventilation demand.
- The General Services Administration (GSA) will implement innovative energy conservation measures such as reducing nighttime base loads on buildings, including external lighting, and validating established building temperature settings.
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will issue sustainable design and construction specifications that require new buildings to exceed current standards by 30% where cost effective.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will complete updates to utility data collection systems to provide estimates of building-level greenhouse gas emissions and help facilities better understand emissions management.
The Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans also outline how agencies are meeting additional water, energy and waste targets. Overall, the federal government has already reduced its water use by 19% since 2007, ahead of schedule to meet a goal of 26% by 2020, and is now getting more than 9% of its energy from renewable sources — exceeding the goal of 7.5% and on track for a new goal set by the president last year of 20% renewable energy use by 2020, says the White House.
