In December of last year, President Obama issued an order requiring the government to get 20 percent of electricity from renewables by 2020. That’s not exactly an easy goal to achieve.
The General Services Administration, the agency tasked with ensuring the government reaches the goal, owns or leases buildings totaling more than 354 million square feet -- enough space to fill half of Manhattan. It also manages a massive transportation fleet and thousands of people across different regions. Oh, and it must adhere to very strict cost requirements to make sure taxpayers are getting a good deal.
Despite the complexity, the shift is happening. On this week’s show, we’ll talk with Ruth Cox, GSA’s senior sustainability officer, about how renewables and efficiency are greening government buildings while saving taxpayers money.
Later in the show, we’ll have the latest on Hawaii’s effort to both tame and encourage solar, and we'll take a look at the viability of Solar Roadways.
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The Energy Gang is produced by Greentechmedia.com. The show features weekly discussion between energy futurist Jigar Shah, energy policy expert Katherine Hamilton and Greentech Media Editor Stephen Lacey.