President Obama Signs Executive Order Reducing Federal GHG Emissions

On March 19, 2015, the White House published an Executive Order
signed by President Obama that would further a preference for U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) BioPreferred products. Planning
for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade sets new greenhouse
gas (GHG) emission targets for federal agencies to reach by 2025 and increases
renewable energy use and building efficiency, while reducing fleet emissions in
the federal government. The new targets would reduce total GHG emissions by 26
million metric tons, and will be met in part by increasing the share of
electricity from renewable sources that the federal government uses from 9
percent to 30 percent by 2025.
The ambitious GHG emission targets will also be achieved by increasing energy
efficiency in federal buildings by designing new buildings in environmentally
conscious ways and retrofitting existing government buildings to improve energy
conservation, efficiency, and management. The Executive Order also calls for
federal agencies to have a purchase preference for products designated as
recycled content by EPA, products designated BioPreferred and biobased by USDA,
and products designated to be energy and water efficient by EPA.