Obama orders GHG cuts for Federal Agencies; 50% of all new agency vehicles to be ZEV or PHEV by 2025
19 March 2015
President Obama today signed a wide-ranging executive order mandating cuts in greenhouse gas emissions for Federal agencies. Through more efficient Federal operations, agency direct greenhouse gas emissions can be cut by at least 40% over the next decade, the order suggests. The order has operational directives for building and fleet management, electricity generation, water use, waste management and purchasing.
As an initial outcome, within 90 days the head of each agency sis to propose to the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) percentage reduction targets for agency-wide reductions of scope 1 and 2 and scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions in absolute terms by the end of fiscal year 2025 relative to a fiscal year 2008 baseline.
On the transportation side, if the agency operates a fleet of at least 20 motor vehicles, the directive is to improve agency fleet and vehicle efficiency and management by:
Eliminating unnecessary or non-essential vehicles from the agency’s fleet inventory.
Reduce fleet-wide per-mile greenhouse gas emissions from agency fleet vehicles, relative to a baseline of emissions in fiscal year 2014, to achieve a minimum 4% reduction by end of fiscal 2017; a minimum 15% reduction by the end of fiscal 2021; and a minimum 30% reduction by the end of fiscal 2025.
Planning for agency fleet composition such that by 31 December 2020, zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) or plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) account for 20% of all new agency passenger vehicle acquisitions. By 31 December 2025, ZEVs and PHEVs should account for 50% of all new agency passenger vehicles. This includes, where practicable, acquisition of such vehicles in other vehicle classes and counting double credit towards the targets in this section for such acquisitions.
Planning for appropriate charging or refueling infrastructure or other power storage technologies for ZEVs and PHEVs and opportunities for ancillary services to support vehicle-to-grid technology (V2G).
Further, GSA is to ensure that vehicles available to agencies for either lease or sale, at or below market cost, through its vehicle program include adequate variety and volume of alternative fuel vehicles, including zero emission and plug-in hybrid vehicles, to meet the fleet management goals of the order.
The order also directs the US Department of Energy (DOE) to assist the United States Postal Service (USPS) in evaluating the best alternative and advanced fuel technologies for the USPS fleet and report on such progress annually as part of the planning requirements of the order.
The planning requirements entail an annually annually updated integrated Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan (Plan) based on guidance prepared by the Chair of CEQ.
Law enforcement, protective, emergency response, or military tactical vehicle fleets may be exempted from the requirements of the order.
If this is a mandate for new vehicles, why not start now, or as soon as regs are promulgated? Then the fleets would be 50% (or more) by 2025. Let's get serious.
Posted by: JMartin | 19 March 2015 at 01:49 PM
This would be interesting for the Post Office bid
Posted by: CheeseEater88 | 19 March 2015 at 04:44 PM
JM:
Agree, It will take a serious threat from the giga factory to really get EVs rolling because the one car maker serious about battery Mass production is Tesla and the Chinese.
Posted by: Lad | 19 March 2015 at 09:08 PM
As soon as Tesla is not a niche car, it will actually be a threat.
GM has the Bolt(and the volt), that should do something to other companies lack luster EVs... then again, most aren't going to pursue EVs if it isn't mass marketable yet.
Also there are plenty of battery fabs in China, and other parts of the world ramping up production for any car OEM to utilize, Tesla's giga factory may slow themselves down, having to invest all of their assets into their facility.
Hopefully it pays off for them, but is a huge risk to vertically integrate in an industry that is so competitive already.
Posted by: CheeseEater88 | 19 March 2015 at 10:54 PM
Awesome.
Posted by: Brotherkenny4 | 20 March 2015 at 07:05 AM
Just waiting for the RW to start shouting "Dictator!" again.
Posted by: ai_vin | 20 March 2015 at 07:47 AM
now now, not everyone is a fan of socialism ai vin
Posted by: CheeseEater88 | 20 March 2015 at 03:38 PM
Really??? Calling stuff "socialism" all the time. Real nuance there.
Posted by: aym | 22 March 2015 at 12:53 PM