Will Obama’s bid to reduce energy in federal buildings become successful?

At last President-elect Barack Obama is taking hold of his responsibilities and the first subject in this respect is the reduction of energy use in federal buildings. What makes Barack Obama concentrate on this subject? Well, this is not a trivial issue in the land of United States of America and is highly contentious due to several reasons. It has been learnt, for that reason, Obama’s dream was to do something substantial in this regard. Do you have any idea when this idea cropped up or appeared for the first time? It did commence during the energy crisis of the 1970s and it was the first time when the human population realized the necessity of the reduction of energy consumption.

Well, though, the demand has been long it gains momentum seldom especially in the midst of any acute crisis. Take for instance the present days. The entire agenda lost impetus when energy prices fell, but has regained interest in Congress and at the White House. Over the past decade new legislation and several presidential orders set ambitious goals. Will there be anything substantial? It’s very difficult to say at this juncture. Though there have been some progresses so far, the obstacles before smooth progression are huge yet. Besides the investment has been scanty and there is also the pressure of the bureaucratic pressure group.

The government spends an estimated $17 billion a year, about one-third of it to heat, cool and light government buildings, according to the Government Accountability Office, the auditing arm of Congress. Only in the 2006 budget year, for instance, the government spent $6.2 billion just on facilities that belonged to 21 agencies, a little more than half by the Defense Department. This is the latest available report which proves that the government’s interest in this regard is gradually rising.

Whatever it is, it is to be seen that whether President-elect Barack Obama’s initiatives bring a new age in these sluggish activities.