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US net-zero by 2050

Biden to Direct U.S. Government to Cut Emissions 65% by 2030

(Bloomberg Law) -- President Joe Biden will direct federal agencies on Wednesday to spend billions on electric cars, clean electricity, and upgraded buildings with the goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the White House said.
Bloomberg
By Bloomberg
8 Dec
President Biden Delivers Remarks On Covid-19 And VaccinationU.S. President Joe Biden speaks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Biden announced a plan to work with churches, colleges, businesses and celebrities to boost coronavirus vaccinations in the U.S., where demand for the shots has faltered. Photographer: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg

By Courtney Rozen

Word Count: 248
The order will direct federal agencies to buy only electric vehicles by 2035 and transition federal buildings to net-zero emissions by 2045. The U.S. government will also launch a “buy clean” initiative for low-carbon materials and aim to buy products without “forever chemicals,” or PFAS, according to the White House.

The order is Biden’s latest move to leverage the federal government’s wallet to achieve his policy goals. Biden last week directed federal contracting officials to increase the share of dollars spent at Black- and Latino-owned businesses and earlier this year requested a federal officials to write a plan to buy electric vehicles as a way to encourage companies and consumers to invest in the technology. Environmental officials have yet to publish that plan, even though Biden’s order asked for it to be done in April.

Federal spending on contracts reached a record high of $686 billion in fiscal year 2020, up 14% from the previous year due to Covid-19, according to Bloomberg Government’s federal contracting data. Defense contractor giants Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Technologies Corp., and General Dynamics Corp. received a combined $129.5 billion of that spending.

To contact the reporter on this story: Courtney Rozen in Washington at crozen@bgov.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bernie Kohn at bkohn@bloomberglaw.com

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