In the latest step under his Climate Action Plan, President Obama signed a Memorandum on December 5th directing the Federal Government to consume 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020—more than double the current level.

In 2009, the President set aggressive targets for Federal agencies to reduce energy use, carbon pollution, and waste in their operations. The Federal Government has already:

• reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 15% from Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 levels—the equivalent of permanently taking 1.5 million cars off the road;
• reduced energy use per square foot in Federal buildings by more than 9% since FY 2008; and
• consumed more than 7% of its electricity from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind in FY 2013

The release of the Memorandum caps a week of clean energy and energy efficiency announcements, including:

• The fourth annual release of the Federal Agency Sustainability Plans, available here.
• An expansion of the Better Buildings Challenge to include multi-family homes—announced by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)—along with the launch of the Better Buildings Accelerators to support state and local government-led efforts to cut energy waste.
• The release of a 2014 Fuel Economy Guide from DOE and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
• The launch of a new loan program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help families and businesses in rural areas increase their energy efficiency.