Louisiana governor calls for ‘green government’

“Louisiana is a beautiful state, rich in natural resources, including our beautiful waterways and rivers, forests and wide open spaces. It is incumbent upon our generation to ensure our children enjoy these same abundant resources and that they remain safe and clean for generations to come,” Jindal said. “This responsibility is also held by our government leaders and should apply to the functions of state government. Therefore, this executive order works to ensure that we take simple and common-sense measures to ensure the operations of our government are environmentally friendly.”

The executive order calls for:

• The Division of Administration, in consultation with state agencies, to set energy-efficiency goals for state facilities, office buildings or complexes for fiscal years 2009, 2010 and 2011 by July 30.
• The Division of Administration, in consultation with state agencies, to establish programs for energy analysis of state-owned buildings and to identify opportunities for reduced energy use. In addition, the executive order directs any state agency responsible for state-owned facilities to examine the feasibility of a performance contract for energy and operational cost savings.
• Each department of the executive branch of the state government to adopt a program to reduce solid waste, including but not limited to adopting paperless office programs. Likewise, each department is to adopt a recycling program with emphasis on single-stream recycling to increase compliance.
• The Division of Administration to review its purchasing practices to ensure 100 percent compliance with existing state requirements related to energy conservation, to adopt best energy-purchasing practices and to develop or increase standards for such products as appliances, light bulbs, smart chargers and computers using Energy Star as a minimum standard.
• The Division of Administration, in consultation with state agencies, to develop average fuel-economy goals for the state automobile fleet and to take necessary measures to assure that the goals are met by 2010. According to the executive order, the measures should include expanding the number of hybrid and other fuel-efficient vehicles as well as alternative-fuel vehicles on the list of vehicles on state contract.
• Each state agency to assign a lead person to work with the Division of Administration in the development of the sustainability and energy-efficiency goals, the budget and management review, the purchasing of alternative and renewable energy and the implementation of the sustainable building guidelines.
• The commissioner of administration, in cooperation with the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Natural Resources, to create an information campaign to disseminate to other departments best methods and practices regarding energy efficiency and conservation and the benefits of adopting such practices. According to the executive order, the campaign must be updated annually to include the latest innovations and best practices.

“Just as we take steps to make sure that state government makes more efficient use of taxpayer dollars, state government must also be more efficient users of those resources entrusted to us by nature herself,” state Commissioner Angele Davis said. “I approach my task of implementing Gov. Jindal’s bold initiative with the understanding that saving natural resources can work hand in hand with long-term savings to taxpayers.”