Implementing Instructions for Executive Order 13693 Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Implementing Instructions for Executive Order 13693 Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade This guidance is no longer in effect, does not represent current Administration positions, and is provided for reference purposes only. Implementing Instructions for Executive Order 13693 Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade The White House Council on Environmental Quality Office of Federal Sustainability June 10, 2015 This guidance is no longer in effect, does not represent current Administration positions, and is provided for reference purposes only. This guidance is no longer in effect, does not represent current Administration positions, and is provided for reference purposes only. Implementing Instructions for E.O. 13693 Table of Contents (Including References to Corresponding Sections of E.O. 13693) I. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 A. Purpose ............................................................................................................................................ 1 B. Overarching Policy and Directives ................................................................................................. 2 C. Governance, Oversight and Organization ....................................................................................... 2 1. Steering Committee (E.O. 13693, Section 4) ............................................................................... 2 2. Chief Sustainability Officers (E.O. 13693, Sections 6 and 9) ...................................................... 3 3. Principal and Contributing Agencies (E.O. 13693, Sections 3, 7, 8, and 10-15) ........................ 3 4. Working Groups (E.O. 13693, Section 4) .................................................................................... 4 5. Regional Coordination (E.O. 13693, Section 10) ........................................................................ 6 6. Employee Education and Training (E.O. 13693, Section 11) ...................................................... 7 7. Revocations and Conforming Provisions; Limitations; Exemption Authority; and Definitions (E.O. 13693, Sections 16-20) ............................................................................. 7 D. Planning (E.O. 13693, Sections 5 and 14) ...................................................................................... 7 II. Agency Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions ........................................................................... 8 A. Scope 1 and 2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions ..................................................................................... 8 1. Setting Reduction Targets ............................................................................................................ 8 2. Reporting Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3) .......................................................................................... 9 B. Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas Emissions ............................................................................................. 10 1. Setting Reduction Targets for Existing Reporting Categories ................................................... 10 2. Reporting on Energy Use and GHG Emissions in Leases ......................................................... 11 3. Resources for Estimating Emissions for Leased Buildings ........................................................ 12 4. GHG Accounting Guidance ....................................................................................................... 13 C. Strategies and Tools ...................................................................................................................... 13 III. Sustainability Goals for Agencies (E.O. 13693, Section 3) ......................................................... 13 A. Energy (E.O. Sections 3(a), (b), (c), (d), (e)) ................................................................................ 13 1. Energy Intensity ......................................................................................................................... 13 2. Data Center Efficiency ............................................................................................................... 17 3. Clean Energy Target .................................................................................................................. 20 4. Renewable Electric Target ......................................................................................................... 25 5. Alternative Energy ..................................................................................................................... 28 B. Water Efficiency (E.O. 13693, Section 3(f)) ................................................................................. 30 1. Potable Water Consumption ...................................................................................................... 30 2. Metering and Water Balance Analysis....................................................................................... 31 3. Industrial, Landscaping, and Agricultural Water ...................................................................... 32 4. Green Infrastructure for Stormwater and Wastewater Management ........................................ 32 i This guidance is no longer in effect, does not represent current Administration positions, and is provided for reference purposes only. C. Fleet (E.O. 13693, Sections 3(g), 7, 10, 12, 14)............................................................................ 34 1. Fleet Classifications ................................................................................................................... 34 2. Exempted Vehicles Authority ..................................................................................................... 35 3. Optimum Fleet Inventory ........................................................................................................... 35 4. Fleetwide per mile GHG emissions ........................................................................................... 36 5. Telematics .................................................................................................................................. 37 6. Fleet Data .................................................................................................................................. 38 7. Zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) or Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle Goal ................................................. 39 8. Planning for Fleet Charging Infrastructure .............................................................................. 39 9. Agency Chief Sustainability Officer, Fleet Review and Approval Procedures .......................... 40 10. Multimodal Access Plan (MAP) for Commuters........................................................................ 41 11. Regional Coordination ............................................................................................................... 43 12. Supporting the Federal Fleet ..................................................................................................... 43 13. Agency Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan ................................................................... 44 D. Buildings (E.O. 13693, Section 3(h))............................................................................................ 44 1. General....................................................................................................................................... 44 2. New Buildings: Energy Net-Zero and Waste or Water Net-Zero ............................................. 45 3. Existing Building Compliance with Guiding Principles ............................................................ 47 4. Existing Buildings: Energy, Waste or Water Net-Zero ............................................................. 48 5. Energy Efficiency Requirements and Energy and Emissions Reporting for Lease Solicitations ................................................................................................................ 50 6. New Buildings Optimize Space Usage and Consideration of Existing Transportation and Infrastructure ............................................................................................. 51 7. Building Design and Deployment, Fleet Charging Infrastructure ............................................ 52 8. Incorporation of Climate-Resilient Design and Management Elements ................................... 53 E. Acquisition and Procurement (E.O. 13693, Section 3(i)) ............................................................. 53 1. Statutory Mandates .................................................................................................................... 54 2. Products and Services Identified by EPA Programs ................................................................. 55 3. Non-Federal Specifications, Labels and Standards ................................................................... 56 4. BioPreferrred and Biobased Purchasing ................................................................................... 57 5. Copier and Printing Paper ........................................................................................................ 58 6. Implementation of Requirements in Procurements .................................................................... 58 7. Training ...................................................................................................................................... 60 F. Waste and Pollution Prevention (E.O.
Recommended publications
  • Presidential Administration and the Durability of Climate-Consciousness Abstract
    YUMEHIKO HOSHIJIMA Presidential Administration and the Durability of Climate-Consciousness abstract. President Obama took executive actions to address climate change that far ex- ceeded previous Presidents’ efforts to pursue policy objectives through presidential administra- tion. This Note does not focus on the Obama Administration’s major climate change regulations and international agreements, which have already attracted much attention. Rather, this Note identifies a concerted but inconspicuous effort to embed climate-consciousness throughout the executive branch, elevating climate change as a key decisional criterion for federal departments and agencies. This Note explains how the Obama Administration’s efforts exhibited a delicate interplay with the judicial and legislative branches, responding to a judicial demand for rigorous administrative reasoning about climate change while sidestepping congressional hostility to cli- mate change action by finding a narrow zone of congressional inattention. Although convention- al wisdom counsels that subsequent Presidents may easily reverse policies advanced through presidential administration, the Obama Administration’s efforts to advance climate- consciousness may prove surprisingly durable due to formal legal constraints, bureaucratic iner- tia, and public backlash. author. Yale Law School, J.D. expected. The author would like to thank Professor Jerry Mashaw for teaching the Advanced Administrative Law seminar and providing feedback on early drafts; Kyle Edwards, Joshua Macey, and Arjun Ramamurti for workshopping the paper in the seminar; and Patrick Baker and Anthony Sampson for thoughtful editorial feedback and their immense patience. Special thanks to Professor Daniel C. Esty for reviewing drafts and providing insights about sustainability that undergird this paper. All errors, mischaracterizations, and omissions are mine alone.
    [Show full text]
  • THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary for Immediate
    THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release December 5, 2013 December 5, 2013 MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES SUBJECT: Federal Leadership on Energy Management In order to create a clean energy economy that will increase our Nation's prosperity, promote energy security, combat climate change, protect the interests of taxpayers, and safeguard the health of our environment, the Federal Government must lead by example. During my Administration, Federal agencies have reduced their annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than 15 percent (7.8 million metric tons) -- the equivalent of removing 1.5 million cars from the road. Today I am establishing new goals for renewable energy as well as new energy-management practices. Agencies are already well on their way towards meeting the aggressive sustainability goals set forth in Executive Order 13514 of October 5, 2009 (Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance). This memorandum establishes a new target for Federal use of renewable energy that challenges agencies to more than double their renewable electricity consumption. In order to improve their ability to manage energy consumption, promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and achieve the sustainability goals set forth in Executive Order 13514, this memorandum also directs agencies to update their building-performance and energy-management practices, by encouraging the use of the consensus-based, industry-standard Green Button data access system (Green Button) and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Energy Star Portfolio Manager. To help agencies achieve my Administration's climate change goals and increase development of new renewable energy sources, I hereby direct the following: Section 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Does the President Have Directive Authority Over Agency Regulatory Decisions?
    Fordham Law Review Volume 79 Issue 6 Article 2 November 2011 Who's In Charge? Does the President Have Directive Authority Over Agency Regulatory Decisions? Robert V. Percival Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Robert V. Percival, Who's In Charge? Does the President Have Directive Authority Over Agency Regulatory Decisions? , 79 Fordham L. Rev. 2487 (2011). Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol79/iss6/2 This Symposium is brought to you for free and open access by FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fordham Law Review by an authorized editor of FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WHO’S IN CHARGE? DOES THE PRESIDENT HAVE DIRECTIVE AUTHORITY OVER AGENCY REGULATORY DECISIONS? Robert V. Percival* Most regulatory statutes specify that agency heads rather than the President shall make regulatory decisions .1 Yet for more than four decades every President has established some program to require pre-decisional review and clearance of agency regulatory decisions, usually conducted by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).2 On January 18, 2011, President Barack Obama joined his seven predecessors in expressly endorsing regulatory review when he signed Executive Order 13,563.3 President Obama’s regulatory review program generally emulates those of his two most recent predecessors, relying on OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to review only the most significant agency rulemaking actions.4 Although this form of presidential oversight of rulemaking is now well established, an important, unresolved question is whether the President has the authority to dictate the substance of regulatory decisions entrusted by statute to agency heads.
    [Show full text]
  • NASA's 2011 Sustainability Success Stories
    National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Sustainability Success Stories Government and industry Taking the Lead – on LEED 011 alike have placed an NASA is employing space technologies to create technical innovations on Planet Earth. First utilized in increasing focus on 2 operations involving the remote and confined locations for humans in space exploration, these innovations are evident in NASA’s stewardship of the Earth’s commitment to design, construct and operate buildings using much less energy and water than buildings natural resources. These of comparable size. In June 2011, NASA received what is termed a LEED Platinum rating (the highest include reducing the use given) at the ribbon cutting for the new Building 2101 now serving as headquarters for the Langley of fossil fuels, conserving Research Center (LaRC) in Virginia. Also known as New Town, Phase 1, the 79,000 square foot building energy and water, and provides workspace for 260 employees, and is part of a major development plan on the LaRC campus. committing to sustainable Platinum is the highest of four LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) ratings - the practices in conducting others, in ascending order, are Certified, Silver and Gold. This internationally recognized green building daily operations. NASA’s certification system is governed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council. LEED uses a point scale sustainability policy is to to quantify sustainable building features - such as water and energy efficiency, and environmentally execute NASA’s mission friendly materials. Building 2101 was designed for Gold, but several of its features yielded enough points without compromising our to earn Platinum.
    [Show full text]
  • Executive Order 13514 Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance
    Executive Order 13514 Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance Comprehensive Federal Fleet Management Handbook January 2014 Visit https://federalfleets.energy.gov/ for the latest related information from this Handbook. Contacts Mark Reichhardt Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 202-586-4788 [email protected] FEMP General Contact Information EE-2L 1000 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20585-0121 202-586-5772 Acknowledgments This document was prepared by Julian Bentley of LMI in McLean, Virginia, and Ryan Daley and Navid Ahdieh of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, on behalf of DOE’s FEMP. FEMP acknowledges the following organizations for supporting the development of this document: • U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) • Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE) • Office of Management and Budget (OMB) • NREL • Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This document would not be possible without the valuable input received from throughout the Federal Government, including: • U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) • U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), including: Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD),Acquisition, Technology & Logistics (AT&L); Department of the Air Force; Defense Logistics Agency Energy (DLA Energy); and Department of the Navy • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) • U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) • U.S. Postal Service (USPS) • Agency members of the Interagency Committee on Alternative Fuels and Low Emission Vehicles (INTERFUEL) working group. i Comprehensive Federal Fleet Management Handbook Executive Summary On April 5, 2010, DOE issued “Guidance for Federal Agencies on E.O.
    [Show full text]
  • President Signs Executive Order 13514: Federal Leadership In
    President Signs Executive Order 13514: Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance Recently signed Executive Order 13514 (EO 13514) strives to improve energy efficiency and environmental performance in federal agencies. This article provides an overview of the EO, summarizes its other key provisions and their time frame for implementation, and offers some conclusions about EO 13514 in practice. Overview of Executive Order 13514 On October 5, 2009, President Obama signed a sweeping new executive order with far-reaching ramifications for federal energy conservation and environmental policy. Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, strengthens requirements set forth by the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and Executive Order 13423. It contains a virtual potpourri of initiatives for federal agencies to implement, including requirements related to the following topics: • Energy efficiency • Greenhouse gas emission mitigation • Water conservation • Waste management and recycling • Green procurement • Pollution prevention • Fleet management • Livable communities • Transparency in government Unlike many other executive orders, which typically contain only general directions for federal policy, EO 13514 contains considerable detail such as specific goal-setting, inventorying, and reporting requirements. For example—and of particular importance—EO 13514 requires every federal agency to establish quantitative greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets and to develop policies and programs to achieve them. EO 13514 also requires federal agencies to do all of the following: • Reduce vehicle fleet petroleum use 30% by 2020. • Improve water efficiency 26% by 2020. • Achieve 50% recycling and waste diversion by 2015. • Meet sustainability requirements across 95% of all applicable contracts.
    [Show full text]
  • Carpe Diem on Earth Day How to Use Executive Authority to Boost Investments, Create Jobs, and Save Oil
    Carpe Diem on Earth Day How to Use Executive Authority to Boost Investments, Create Jobs, and Save Oil Kari Manlove, Daniel J. Weiss, and the Energy Opportunity Team The first Earth Day was April 22, 1970, and was launched at a time when rivers caught fire, smog choked many cities, and pollution went untouched into the air, land, and water. Today our air, land, and water are significantly less polluted due to federal safeguards established since that day. As Earth Day’s 40th anniversary approaches, we are faced with new global economic and security challenges in addition to the continuing need to reduce the same pollutants. These chal- lenges call for comprehensive national action to transition to a clean energy economy. Greenhouse gas pollution, for example, is altering weather patterns across the globe. NASA reports that the past decade was the hottest on record, beating out the 1990s, which were hotter than the 1980s. Glaciers are melting away in Glacier National Park, Montana, and New Moore Island in the Indian Ocean, fought over by India and Pakistan, is no longer in dispute because it is underwater due to sea level rise. The world is shifting to low-carbon clean energy technologies in response to this real and present danger, particularly energy efficiency and renewable electricity. Many of our economic competitors, including China and Germany, have made significant clean energy invest- ments to increase energy efficiency, become more competitive, lower oil dependence, reduce global warming pollution, and reap the economic benefits that come from these investments. President Barack Obama said in his 2010 State of the Union Address that “Providing incen- tives for energy efficiency and clean energy are the right thing to do for our future because the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy.
    [Show full text]
  • Executive Order 13514 Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance
    FEDERAL ENERGY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM Executive Order 13514 Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance Guidance for Federal Agencies on E.O. 13514 Section 12, Federal Fleet Management April 2010 FEDERAL ENERGY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM Contacts Amanda Sahl Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 202-586-1662 [email protected] FEMP General Contact Information EE-2L 1000 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20585-0121 202-586-5772 DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Information Center 877-337-3463 https://www.eere.energy.gov/informationcenter/ Acknowledgements This document was prepared by DOE’s FEMP. FEMP acknowledges the following organizations for supporting the development of this document: • U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) • U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) • Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE) • Office of Management and Budget (OMB) This document would not be possible without the valuable input received from throughout the Federal Government, including: • U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) • U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), including: Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD),Acquisition, Technology & Logistics (AT&L); Department of the Air Force; Defense Energy Support Center (DESC); and Department of the Navy • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) • U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) • U.S. Postal Service (USPS) • Agency members of the INTERFUEL working group. E.O. 13514 Section 12 Guidance Page i Executive Summary Executive Order (E.O.) 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, E.O. 13514, Section 12 fleet and Economic Performance, signed on October 5, 2009, establishes “an goal: Reduce GHG emissions integrated strategy towards sustainability in the Federal Government and through petroleum reduction.
    [Show full text]
  • Institutionalizing Sustainability
    Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy Volume 27 Issue 1 Symposium on Green Technology and Article 9 Infrastructure 1-1-2013 Institutionalizing Sustainability: Implementation of Executive Order 13,514 and its Impact on the Environmental, Economic, and Social Performance of Pacific orN thwest National Laboratory Sarah Widder Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp Recommended Citation Sarah Widder, Institutionalizing Sustainability: Implementation of Executive Order 13,514 and its Impact on the Environmental, Economic, and Social Performance of Pacific oN rthwest National Laboratory, 27 Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol'y 229 (2013). Available at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol27/iss1/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. \\jciprod01\productn\N\NDE\27-1\NDE109.txt unknown Seq: 1 19-APR-13 13:05 INSTITUTIONALIZING SUSTAINABILITY: IMPLEMENTATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 13,514 AND ITS IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL PERFORMANCE OF PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORY SARAH WIDDER* INTRODUCTION Over the past several decades, companies and institutions in the United States and abroad have recognized the importance of sustainability and accountability in their operations.1 The foun- dation of the modern sustainability movement began with the implementation of discrete programs, such as environmental management and corporate social responsibility programs. The goal of these programs is to improve transparency and environ- mental performance.
    [Show full text]
  • Executive Order 13514—Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance October 5, 2009
    Administration of Barack H. Obama, 2009 Executive Order 13514—Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance October 5, 2009 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to establish an integrated strategy towards sustainability in the Federal Government and to make reduction of greenhouse gas emissions a priority for Federal agencies, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Policy. In order to create a clean energy economy that will increase our Nation's prosperity, promote energy security, protect the interests of taxpayers, and safeguard the health of our environment, the Federal Government must lead by example. It is therefore the policy of the United States that Federal agencies shall increase energy efficiency; measure, report, and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from direct and indirect activities; conserve and protect water resources through efficiency, reuse, and stormwater management; eliminate waste, recycle, and prevent pollution; leverage agency acquisitions to foster markets for sustainable technologies and environmentally preferable materials, products, and services; design, construct, maintain, and operate high performance sustainable buildings in sustainable locations; strengthen the vitality and livability of the communities in which Federal facilities are located; and inform Federal employees about and involve them in the achievement of these goals. It is further the policy of the United States that to achieve these goals and support their respective missions, agencies shall prioritize actions based on a full accounting of both economic and social benefits and costs and shall drive continuous improvement by annually evaluating performance, extending or expanding projects that have net benefits, and reassessing or discontinuing under-performing projects.
    [Show full text]
  • NASA Net Zero Energy Buildings Roadmap Shanti Pless, Jennifer Scheib, Paul Torcellini, Bob Hendron, and Michelle Slovensky
    NASA Net Zero Energy Buildings Roadmap Shanti Pless, Jennifer Scheib, Paul Torcellini, Bob Hendron, and Michelle Slovensky NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. Technical Report NREL/TP-5500-60838 October 2014 Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 NASA Net Zero Energy Buildings Roadmap Shanti Pless, Jennifer Scheib, Paul Torcellini, Bob Hendron, and Michelle Slovensky Prepared under Task No. WFT7.1000 Final Report prepared for NASA Interagency Agreement # IAG-13-01895 NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. National Renewable Energy Laboratory Technical Report 15013 Denver West Parkway NREL/TP-5500-60838 Golden, CO 80401 October 2014 303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. Neither the United States government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or any agency thereof.
    [Show full text]
  • Federal “Green” Product Procurement Policy in the United States
    FEDERAL “GREEN” PRODUCT PROCUREMENT POLICY IN THE UNITED STATES * BY SHAWNA D. GANLEY CENTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE LAW , COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL DECEMBER 2013 INTRODUCTION The U.S. federal government is reported to be the world’s largest purchaser, 1 which gives it the potential to wield its buying power to achieve ‘secondary’ policies such as protecting the environment and promoting the market for sustainable consumer products. This paper specifically addresses federal procurement of consumer products 2 and examines the degree to which agencies must purchase ‘green’ products that minimize upstream environmental impacts or otherwise have low “embedded” carbon. These policies are important because procurement preferences for sustainable goods can provide demand-side market incentives that may function as a catalyst to promote the development of green goods in the broader consumer market as a whole. Part I below first reviews the history of green product procurement in the U.S., the foundation for which was established by the policies of the Clinton and Bush Administrations, while Part II discusses how President Obama has expanded these sustainable purchasing requirements. Parts III and IV address the extent to which these current rules treat lifecycle analysis and/or otherwise account for upstream greenhouse gases or other impacts in the supply chain. * Shawna Ganley was a visiting scholar with the Center for Climate Change Law during spring and summer 2013. She is currently studying for her LLM at New York University School of Law. 1 EPA, Environmentally Preferable Purchasing , found at: http://www.epa.gov/epp/pubs/about/about.htm. EPA reports that the US federal government is “one of the world's largest consumers…[and] the single largest consumer of goods and services within the United States, with total spending estimated at $350 billion for goods and services each year.” Id.
    [Show full text]