Feds will buy energy-efficient cars, slash oil imports 33%

The Obama administration on Tuesday will announce in an online broadcast how it will start buying more technologically advanced vehicles for use by the U.S. government while at the same time finding ways to considerably decrease federal agencies' reliance on foreign petroleum.

In a statement from the White House sent to reporters Monday afternoon, officials said U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, U.S. General Services Administrator Martha Johnson and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley will share specifics Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in an online telecast announcement (whitehouse.gov/live) from the L’Enfant Promenade of the Department of Energy.

This much is clear at this hour: President Obama has a goal on record to reduce federal agency petroleum fuel use by 30 percent by 2020. He also has said he would like to cut oil imports by 33 percent by 2025.

The impetus for this discussion comes from a decision made by President Obama at the White House in 2009. The president in October 2009 signed Executive Order 13514 on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance. That order instructed federal agencies to become more frugal and environmentally responsible with their transportation budgets.

The announcement is major because transportation accounts for 66 percent of America's oil use and contributes up to one-third of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.

You can reach TorqueNews.com's Hawke Fracassa at hawkefracassa@aol.com.