President Obama issued an executive order Thursday to cut federal government greenhouse emissions by 40 percent from 2008 levels by 2025. He also pledged to increase the share of electricity that the federal government uses from renewable sources by 30 percent within the next 10 years. The president called those "achievable goals".
The Federal government will meet those goals by cutting energy use and reducing the amount of water used in federal building, decreasing gas emissions from government vehicles and putting more zero-emissions vehicles in the federal fleet.
For the signing ceremony at the U.S. Department of Energy, Obama was joined by executives from IBM, GE and Northrop Grumman, among the leading U.S. companies that sell products to the federal government. They are “stepping up and making their own ambitious goals" the president said, which he added could also help to curb climate change and save money.
Obama has set a goal to reduce U.S. emissions overall by 25 percent by 2025, a number expected to be announced as part of the U.S. commitment in treaty negotiations for a new global warming agreement world leaders hope to sign in December at a climate summit in Paris.
