On June 3, the U.S. Department of
Commerce updated its Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan (SSPP), an 80-page roadmap to increasing its energy and
environmental stewardship. The SSPP details the department’s current progress
and plans for meeting targets in 8 key areas, from reducing greenhouse gas
emissions and energy consumption to increasing on-site generation of renewable
energy and recycling.
Highlights from
2010 include the completion of a 120 KW solar array to power the National
Institute of Standards and Technology’s Kauai, Hawaii WWVH radio station, which
is projected to save nearly $60,000 per year; the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s construction of two green buildings and plans for
completion of four more; and completion of Commerce’s first ever inventory of
its greenhouse gas emissions.
As
part of the SSPP update Secretary Locke issued the department’s first ever
climate change adaptation policy, which commits Commerce to considering
climate change impacts when undertaking planning, setting priorities for
scientific research and investigations, and making decisions regarding its
resources, programs, policies, and operations.
The
new policy also commits Commerce to developing and publishing a department-wide
Climate Adaptation Plan by June 4, 2012, which will evaluate risks and
vulnerabilities to climate change and define the department’s strategy for managing
climate change impacts in both the short and long term.