Officials work to keep green government initiatives from getting lost in transition

While the Obama administration will be confronted with a host of economic and security problems come January, it also will inherit a robust collection of energy conservation initiatives that have significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions and improved environmental stewardship among federal agencies during the last eight years.

"We've made some very good progress," said Joe Cascio, the Federal Environmental Executive who runs the small White House office with the mandate to promote green policies across government. "It would be unfortunate if the new administration felt nothing was happening and they had to come in and start from scratch. There's a lot of good stuff going on here and to maintain the momentum on all of this is extremely important," he said.

Cascio's focus has been to establish guidelines for implementing Executive Order 13423, "Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy and Transportation Management," issued last year by President Bush.

The order establishes aggressive targets for reducing petroleum consumption in vehicles and increasing alternative fuel consumption; improving energy efficiency in facilities; cutting greenhouse gas emissions and investing in renewable electricity; and buying more efficient technology. It also designates environmental management systems as the tool for achieving the objectives. EMS is a comprehensive framework for improving efficiency across facilities and vehicle fleets.

Federal agencies spend $400 billion annually on goods and services and consume more energy than any other sector in the United States. Leveraging all that buying power can have a significant impact on the market for renewable fuels, bio-based products, sustainable building materials and energy-efficient technology.

Dana Arnold, chief of staff in the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive and one of two officials from the Environmental Protection Agency assigned to OFEE, said the Bush administration has tried to build on a number of initiatives begun during the Clinton administration. Those include an electronics life-cycle management program that begins with purchasing and ends with recycling, keeping materials out of landfills here and abroad.

"Every new administration likes to put its stamp on things," Arnold said. "While we hope and we think the Obama administration will not change this, we don't know for sure."

Through five interagency working groups, agencies are developing guidelines that will help institutionalize and consolidate gains made through hundreds of initiatives. The working groups are focused on green purchasing and recycling, electronics stewardship, green facilities, alternative-fuel vehicles and environmental management systems.

"I sincerely believe Obama is interested in continuing these efforts," Cascio said. "There's no politics involved in this. This only makes the government more efficient, more effective and it reduces our energy consumption. These are all good things."