GreenBiz - At USGBC’s 9th annual Government Summit last week it was as clear to all in attendance that governments at every level are leading by example in building sustainability.
Among the signs of progress was Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announcing an increased commitment by the U.S. Navy and Marines to build to LEED Gold, up from their previous LEED-Silver commitment. We also saw USGBC confer the 2011 Federal Green Building Leadership Award to both Department of Energy Deputy Assistant Secretary Kathleen Hogan and the Energy Star program. And, attendees received an update from the White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley on the President’s Better Buildings Initiative.
The fighting spirit of our government employees as they look to meet the challenge of building energy efficiency and sustainability was plain to see, in sharp contrast to the attitude displayed a mile away at the Capitol.
Perhaps most uplifting was the closing plenary, which featured world-changing energy efficiency scientist, advocate and former California Energy Commissioner Art Rosenfeld and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, who also is a former mayor of Baltimore.
The timing and content of their presentations drove home a point that often gets lost in the everyday noise of politics -- that government, when advised by science, can be effective in everything from reducing energy consumption to fighting violent crime, and can be open and accountable to the people they govern.
Rosenfeld told the story of testifying in California in the late '70s, where he made the then-revolutionary claim that energy efficiency could stop the ever-growing need for more power plants and more fossil fuels.
The truth of this claim is plainly evident today, as California's per capita energy consumption has been maintained from that point forward, while doubling in the rest of the country. This is a clear example of a state government honestly assessing the direction in which it is heading and acting on the science that's clearly presented in order to change course.
Rosenfeld then explained a new opportunity to change course -- this time at the global level -- by presenting his most recent research on the global cooling capacity of white roofs.
