James Norton: “the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management of the Transportation Committee has…”

“the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management of the Transportation Committee has jurisdiction over General Service Administration, GSA, activities and programs as the property manager for the Federal Government. GSA itself owns over 1,500 Federal buildings comprising over 175 million square feet of space. The agency leases another 7,100 buildings with a total rentable area of over 176 million square feet of space. Because GSA is a lease holder for the vast majority of office space controlled by the Federal Government, the agency can also have a pivotal role in energy conservation in the private sector as well. According to a September 2006 Department of Energy report, the public and private building sector together account for an amazing 39 percent of total U.S. energy consumption, more than both the transportation and industry sectors. Even more surprising public and private sector buildings, like those under our jurisdiction, are responsible for 71 percent of U.S. electricity consumption. These buildings in the United States alone account for 9.8 percent of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. U.S. buildings are responsible for nearly the same amount of carbon emissions as all sectors of the economies of Japan, France, and the United Kingdom combined. The Federal Government is the world's single largest energy consumer and the most prolific in wasting energy in the world today.”