Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership

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May 2013 Newsletter

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Check out these interesting updates from the White House Council on Environmental Quality:

  • On Friday, the Department of Energy finalized new energy efficiency standards for microwave ovens. Read Heather Zichal’s blog post highlighting the societal benefits of the microwave oven standard, which reduces carbon emissions and helps consumers save on energy bills. The standard is just one of nearly 40 appliance efficiency standards that the Administration has established since the President took office.
  • Bring your attention to an upcoming speech by Agriculture Secretary Vilsack. On Wednesday, June 5th, Secretary Vilsack will discuss his vision for USDA’s work to help American agriculture adapt to modern environmental challenges such as the severe storms, historic drought, devastating floods and resurgence in invasive pests our nation’s farmers, ranchers, and foresters have confronted in recent years. The speech will be given at the National Press Club at 1 PM. Click here to view more information about the event.
  • Yesterday, along with Education Secretary Duncan and Acting EPA Administrator Perciasepe, Chair Sutley delivered remarks at the Department of Education’s 2013 Green Ribbon Schools Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. honoring this year’s winning schools and districts. The winning schools have worked to reduce their environmental impact and utility bills, create healthy learning environments, and provide effective environmental education that prepares students to succeed in the 21st century economy.
  • As part of the Obama Administration’s initiative to reduce energy use, pollution, and waste and save money in Federal operations, Federal agencies released annual updates on Friday that show significant progress toward energy and sustainability goals. These annual performance scorecards benchmark agencies’ progress and help them to target the best opportunities to improve their energy efficiency and reduce costs and waste in their operations moving forward. To view agency scorecards, click here. Learn more about Executive Order 13514 here.
  • On Monday, Interior Secretary Jewell announced the approval of three major renewable energy projects in Arizona and Nevada. When built, they are expected to deliver up to 520 megawatts to the electricity grid, enough to power 200,000 homes.
  • Finally, last week, as part of the Department of Defense’s Advanced Drop-In Biofuels Production Project, the Department issued $16 million in contracts to biofuel plants to supply fuel for fighter jets and destroyers by 2016.

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