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U.S. Government Agencies Move to Increase Energy Security and Fuel Efficiency
President Obama announced that the Federal Government will lead by example in replacing older cars in the federal fleet with fuel efficient hybrids and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, reducing our dependence on foreign oil as well as cutting carbon dioxide and other pollution.
The U.S. General Services Administration will double the federal hybrid fleet this year and has committed to purchasing approximately 100 plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2011. These steps are part of a broad effort to implement the Executive Order signed by President Obama in October which calls on agencies to cut the federal government’s fleet petroleum use by 30 percent by 2020, among other goals.
“President Obama has called on the Federal Government to lead by example in sustainability and our efforts to build a clean energy economy. By doubling the hybrids in the Federal fleet, agencies are answering that call by reducing petroleum consumption and increasing fuel efficiency,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “These types of clean energy investments will help create new private-sector jobs, drive long-term savings, build market capacity, and foster innovation in clean energy industries.”
Using existing funds, GSA will replace 5,603 of the least fuel efficient cars and trucks in the Federal fleet with fuel efficient hybrids, doubling the number of hybrids in the federal fleet without increasing the total number of vehicles.
The resulting improvement in fleet fuel efficiency will reduce petroleum consumption by the equivalent of an estimated 7.7 million gallons of gas, or 385,000 barrels of oil.
“By doubling the hybrid fleet and committing to purchasing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, GSA is leveraging our position as the government’s centralized supplier to invest in emerging clean energy technologies, increase the government fleet’s fuel economy, and decrease the cost of government operations,” said Martha N. Johnson, Administrator of General Services. “GSA is committed to delivering solutions that help agencies deliver on the President’s call to increase sustainability and energy security.”
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