Letter to the Governor
Dear Governor Rendell,
With the spiraling cost of energy commanding national attention, Pennsylvania has emerged as a leader in the production of clean, renewable power. The nation's most progressive energy portfolio standard will make almost 4,000 megawatts of renewable power available to Commonwealth energy users and is expected to result in an additional $3 billion in earnings and as many as 4,000 new jobs for residents over the next 15 years.
Realizing the need to lead by example in reducing statewide energy usage you challenged state government to cut energy use, and the Governor's Green Government Council is pleased to report that agencies are meeting that challenge head-on. Adjusting building temperature set points and eliminating personal appliances in facilities operated by the Department of General Services reduced energy usage by 8 percent in the second calendar quarter of 2006. Continued construction of new buildings to high performance specifications reduces energy consumption, and increased participation in the Guaranteed Energy Savings Act has saved taxpayers $5.4 million over the last fiscal year. In addition to energy conservation, commonwealth agencies have also been working with the private sector to help develop indigenous sources of clean, renewable power.
The ultimate goal of the Governor's Green Government Council has always been to bring about organizational change resulting in employees routinely considering the environmental impacts of their actions regardless of their particular jobs. The degree to which agencies effectively responded to your energy challenge demonstrates how "systems thinking" is taking hold. Today, we see employees looking beyond the confines of their individual responsibilities and crossing agencies lines, where necessary, to assure a smooth transition from one job function to the next. Whether developing innovative ways of making one agency's waste another agency's feed stock, finding ways to turn waste into energy or making fuel from home-grown crops, agencies are incorporating environmentally responsible practices into day-to-day operations.
With world energy in tight supply and even more austere predictions for the future, successful energy strategies must be long term. So must be the commonwealth's commitment to ongoing organizational change. Green thinking began eight years ago as a collection of isolated, small-scale, agency initiatives. It is now becoming common currency, enabling employees to bring innovative ideas into the workplace and allowing agencies to tackle more challenging environmental issues by involving the whole management chain.
Sincerely,
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James P. Creedon
Secretary
Department of General Services
Co-Chair
Governor's Green Government Council |
Kathleen A. McGinty
Secretary
Department of Environmental Protection
Co-Chair
Governor's Green Government Council |
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