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On the heels of a State of the Union address that challenged Americans to reduce U.S. gasoline usage by 20 percent over the next 10 years, President Bush issued an executive order Wednesday requiring federal agencies to cut their energy consumption -- by, among other actions, purchasing more hybrid cars.

In a speech after touring a DuPont energy research facility in Wilmington, Del., Bush said he would apply the 20 percent fuel cut target to vehicles in the federal fleet. "We're going to be joining with America -- we set the goal; it doesn't make much sense for the federal government to set the goal and then not participate, and we will," Bush said.

Under Bush's order, agencies operating fleets of at least 20 motor vehicles must reduce their consumption of petroleum products by 2 percent a year through the end of fiscal 2015. Bush said such agencies would begin buying new plug-in hybrid vehicles "as soon as they hit the market."

"I think that will give some surety to those who have invested in new technologies to know that the federal government is going to be a purchaser, when commercially available," Bush said. "In other words, we're not going to waste your taxpayers' money, but we're going to participate in a new market."

Bush's order requires agencies to reduce their overall energy use by 3 percent annually, or 30 percent by the end of fiscal 2015, and to cut water consumption by 2 percent a year over the same period. It mandates that agencies expand procurement programs focusing on environmentally friendly products, including bio-based products.

Under the order, agencies must appoint a senior executive to oversee energy efficiency efforts, establish programs for environmental management training and create awards programs to honor outstanding conservation efforts.

The White House Office of the Federal Environmental Executive issued a fact sheet on the president's order, noting that federal agencies already have reduced petroleum consumption by 70 percent since 1985.

The office noted that the new goal of improving energy efficiency by 30 percent in 10 years is 50 percent more stringent than a standard set out in the 2005 Energy Policy Act.

COMMENTS

• Oh the irony. After years of blaming Clinton for all the world's ills and dismissing big bad Bill's policies, Bushhas the audacity to put this executive order out and claim to be greener than thou. Look up executive order 13149 dated April 21, 2000 and you will read verbatim what was already in place. He's actually adopting a Clinton policy! Will wonders never cease. To be fair, Dubya did put in a few lines about water conservation and green construction 13149 did not cover. Come on though, this is hardly an original thought on his part. Mike H. Posted February 21, 2007 1:34 PM
• If Bush is serious I have two suggestions: 1. Stop all government offices from working on Mondays. This means the heat and AC can be stopped for three days and no one will have to commute on Mondays (20% of the week leads to 20% reduction he wants). 2. Do not allow any government agency to purchase gasoline-burning vehicles - only alternative fuels because his objective is not to reduce energy usage but to reduce gasoline usage. He needs to get his words correct. taxpayer Posted February 15, 2007 10:18 AM
• Now this my coworkers and I found truly humorous. We wondered just how much the government could save just fixing the heating and air conditioning problems in our building, let alone the entire post. Stationed in the same building for the past 6 years, it’s never failed. In the heat of the summer we wear jackets because we work in an environment I can only describe as a meat locker with desks. In the cold of the winter, the heat cranks up so high they’ve cutting working hours and class schedules because the working conditions are almost intolerable. Heaven forbid you should work on the second floor where everything is magnified. And so we adapt, we all have fans to cool in the winter and heaters to warm in the summer; normally in the seasons most folks wouldn’t expect such conditions. I probably shouldn’t complain after having suffered through like situations in Quonset huts (only in reverse) and knowing how the deployed troops must feel, but that was and is due to a lack of capability. As in, we (and they) didn’t have heating and air. It wasn’t deemed cost effective. Not to knock DPW, but why does it take 6 years, millions of dollars in environmental control updates, hundreds of man-hours annually, and they still can’t get it right? Anyone else out there experiencing the same? Tip off. GovExec.com reader Posted January 25, 2007 4:31 PM