Two days ago, the Federal Acquisition Regulations Council released an interim rule on green procurement, requiring that the head of each agency ensure that 95 percent of new contract actions are for products and services that are energy efficient, water efficient, bio-based, environmentally preferable or non-ozone depleting, adhering to criteria set out by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Agriculture Department. The agencies also must aim to procure items that contain recycled content and are nontoxic.
In a major new announcement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has concluded that greenhouse gases (GHGs) threaten the public health and welfare also explicitly stating that GHG emissions from on-road vehicles contribute to that threat. This conclusion by the EPA has been reached after a thorough examination of the scientific evidence and careful consideration of public comments.
The economic recovery package contains $78.6 billion in clean energy, energy efficiency, environmental and green transportation funding. There are also energy-related tax incentives. Prior to signing the bill, Obama spoke of how the United States can now convert crisis into opportunity, like making the country more energy efficient, and how he would like to see the nation’s amount of renewable energy doubled in the next three years.
