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U.S. EPA launches "Federal Green Challenge" in the Pacific Southwest

Release Date: 04/22/2011
Contact Information: Margot Perez-Sullivan, [email protected]

SAN FRANCISCO -- The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Southwest Region has launched the West Coast Federal Green Challenge. The campaign kicks off during Earth Week and celebrates the commitment of 34 federal agencies, representing more than 150,000 federal employees doing their part to reduce their environmental impact. Under this new initiative, federal government facilities pledge to reduce their carbon emissions by 5% or more per year in at least two of six areas: waste, water, energy, transportation, electronics, and purchasing.

“As the nation’s largest purchaser of goods and services, spending $425 billion a year, the federal government should leverage its collective purchasing power to protect human health and the environment,” said Jared Blumenfeld, Regional Administrator of EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. Federal agencies have responded enthusiastically to our call to reduce environmental footprints.”

Environmentally preferable purchasing helps the environment when agencies buy less, or choose “green” products. Blumenfeld also noted that the federal government is the largest buyer of energy in the U.S., and accounts for 7% of the world’s information technology purchases. The federal government also controls a real estate portfolio of more than 1.2 million assets including 550,000 buildings.

Joining the West Coast Green Challenge are:

All California

· Navy Region Southwest (predominantly San Diego Area)
· US Forest Service (Region 5)
· Rural Development (California)

San Francisco Bay Area

· US Environmental Protection Agency (Pacific Southwest Region)
· NASA (Ames Research Center)
· United States Postal Service (San Francisco District)
· Center for Medicare and Medicaid
· Office of Labor-Management Standards
· Health and Human Services (Office of Assistant Secretary for Health)
· San Francisco Federal Executive Board
· Employee Benefits Security Administration
· Division of Federal Workers’ Compensation
· Department of Labor (Office of Assistant Secretary for Administration & Management)
· Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
· US Treasury (San Francisco Financial Center)
· Social Security Administration (Richmond)
· Golden Gate National Recreation Area
· Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
· Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
· General Services Administration (San Francisco Office)
· Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
· US Department of Veterans Affairs (Northern California Health Care System)
· Small Business Administration (Region 9)

Los Angeles

· Greater Los Angeles Federal Executive Board
· Drug Enforcement Administration (Los Angeles)
· US Department of Housing and Urban Development (Los Angeles Office)
· US Citizen and Immigration Services (Western Region)
· US Attorney’s Office (Central District of CA)

Sacramento

· Bureau of Indian Affairs (Sacramento)
· Fish & Wildlife Service (Pacific Southwest Region)

Arizona

· Grand Canyon National Park

Nevada

· Navy Region Southwest (1 base)
· Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Hawaii

· Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

The Federal Green Challenge was originally launched in 2008 in EPA’s Pacific Northwest Region. This new effort will expand the Federal Green Challenge to the entire West Coast. Last year, the Federal Green Challenge in the Pacific Northwest Region reduced the carbon footprint of its partners by 380 million pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) and saved over $1 million for the government.

In addition to the Pacific Southwest Region’s new partners, six new partners are also joining the Pacific Northwest’s 23 existing partners: Census Bureau (Seattle Regional Office), Dept. of Commerce Office of Inspector General (Seattle Regional Office), Federal Emergency Management Agency (Region 10, Bothell Federal Regional Center), National Archives & Records Administration (Pacific Alaska Region), Seattle Federal Executive Board, Small Business Administration (Seattle District Office), and U.S. Attorney's Office (Western District of Washington).

For more information on the West Coast Federal Green Challenge please visit,
https://www.epa.gov/fgc/