Obama to sign order cutting U.S. government greenhouse gas emissions

Saturday, March 21st, 2015

Obama to sign order cutting U.S. government greenhouse gas emissions

Author: Eric Walsh and Julia Edwards
Source: Reuters
Publication Date: Thu Mar 19, 2015 4:21pm EDT
Link: Obama to sign order cutting U.S. government greenhouse gas emissions

Stephan: While Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is doing his best as a corporate liegeman to protect the pollution of the carbon industry so that their profits will be preserved President Obama seems to have gotten the message science has been shouting for a decade: We must profoundly reduce carbon emissions if we want our civilization to survive. This still isn't enough, but at least the President is taking a much needed step.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to the City Club of Cleveland about middle class economics in Ohio March 18, 2015.
Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Barack Obama will sign an executive order on Thursday that sets a goal for the U.S. government to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2025, the White House said.

Although the federal government accounts for only 0.7 percent of net U.S. emissions, it is the single largest energy consumer in the United States, according to the White House.

Meeting the goal would cut 21 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from 2008 levels, it said.

Several large private-sector partners, including IBM, General Electric and Honeywell, also committed to cutting a combined 5 million metric tons.

Obama has made fighting climate change a top priority in his final two years in office. The White House sees it as critical to his legacy.

In November, Obama […]

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