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Gov. Gregoire signs executive order directing state agencies to reduce energy use

For Immediate Release: October 1, 2012

OLYMPIA � Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced she has signed an executive order, directing all cabinet agencies to reduce total building energy use by 20 percent by 2020.

�By increasing the energy efficiency of state buildings, we have the opportunity to save energy, reduce the costs of government, and make our buildings more comfortable,� Gregoire said. �At the same time, additional investments in energy efficiency will also create jobs, many of them in the construction trades � a sector of the work force that has been particularly hit hard by the recession.�

In March, Gregoire joined the governors of Oregon and California, as well as the premier of British Columbia at the annual Pacific Coast Collaborative meeting, where the leaders announced a West Coast initiative on energy efficiency. All four jurisdictions made a joint commitment to improve the energy efficiency of state buildings, and to adopt the goal of reducing energy use in state buildings by 20 percent by 2020.

�If we�re really going to make a dent in greenhouse gas emissions, it�s going to take the work of all of us,� Gregoire said. �I�m glad our neighboring states and provinces have agreed to meet this challenge, and I�d encourage private businesses to adopt the same goal. This is a common sense plan that makes financial sense, as well � as it calls to invest only in projects that pay for themselves.�

In Washington state, heating, cooling and operating state buildings is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from state operations, producing almost 80 percent of carbon emissions in the state�s emission inventory. State agencies, colleges and universities over the last five years have made significant progress in reducing energy use, including investments of more than $325 million in energy efficiency projects.

Agencies have been directed to use a 2009 baseline use of energy to monitor progress. Exceptions can be made by the Department of Enterprise Services if an agency finds the 2020 goal can�t be met in a cost effective manner.

Gregoire has directed the state�s Department of Commerce to monitor and report on state agency progress in implementing the executive order.

To read a copy of the executive order, visit: http://governor.wa.gov/execorders/eo_12-06.pdf