EPA, GSA perfect students of sustainability

Federal agencies on Friday released their sustainability report cards for fiscal 2011, monitoring how well each has adhered to a 2009 executive order directing the government to meet energy, water, pollution and waste reduction targets.

For each of seven metrics, every agency receives one of three stoplight-style grades: green, yellow or red. No overall grades were assigned on the cards.

This is the second year federal agencies have released their score cards, according to the press release.

Some agencies fared better than others. The Energy Department received four green scores, one yellow and two reds (which came from poor reductions in fleet petroleum use and poor progress in developing sustainable buildings).

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency and General Services Administration earned perfect scores of all greens. Agencies that did not perform especially well included the Defense Department, with two greens, two yellows and three reds; and the Office of Personnel Management and Homeland Security Department, both with three greens and four reds.

The Army Corps of Engineers fared the worst, with a score of all red marks.

Not every link on the sustainability page was working or directed visitors to the latest report card as of publication time. The link to the Veterans Affairs Department gives information on VA’s various green management programs, but does not provide visible access to its score card. The Smithsonian Institution’s and Tennessee Valley Authority’s links direct browsers to the agencies’ fiscal 2010 score cards.

In the release, OMB acting Director Jeffrey Zients said energy-efficient investments from the past four years are expected to save as much as $18 billion over the sustainability projects’ life span.

(Image via Martin D. Vonka/Shutterstock.com)