Here’s How: Cut the Size of Government!

This week the Obama Administration directed all agencies to propose goals for cutting direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Under the Executive Order, called The Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance (LEEEP), agencies must for the first time measure, report and reduce their carbon footprint. Each agency has 90 days to propose a target for how much it will reduce by 2020 its greenhouse gas emissions from sources owned or controlled by the agency and indirect emissions generated by the agency’s purchase of electricity. Within 240 days, agencies must propose similar 2020 reduction targets for indirect emissions from all other sources that are generated in the course of the agency’s business. Agency reduction goals will be based on 2008 baselines. The proposed reduction goals will be reviewed and approved by the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Office of Management and Budget. Those targets will be used to develop aggregate governmentwide targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.