The White House announced on January 29 that the federal government will take steps to cut its energy use and reduce its heat-trapping emissions by 28 percent by 2020, compared with 2008 levels. The White House said the emissions reduction goal, if met, would save $8 billion to $11 billion in energy costs over the next decade.
Federal agencies are already pursuing measures to reduce energy consumption by making buildings and vehicles more fuel efficient or switching to renewable sources of energy. The Department of Defense, by far the federal government’s leading consumer of energy, set its emissions reduction goal at 34 percent by 2020, although that figure excludes energy consumed by combat forces.