Office of Strategic Environmental Management
Promoting a Greener Economy
OSEM manages several emerging, cross-cutting issues. There are a growing number of these issues as the focus of environmental protection broadens to creating a greener, more sustainable economy as a whole. This work involves addressing issues, and developing new strategies, that look at problems in an integrated way. Current hot topics include:
- Sustainable Enterprises — EPA is looking at strategies, such as lean manufacturing, for improving the sustainability of businesses and enterprises on an organization-wide basis: improving compliance but taking further steps to shrink the environmental footprint of a facility or entire organization.
- Sustainable Products — The growing attention to sustainable products has raised a variety of issues relating to product labeling, defining what constitutes a "green product", and strategies for enhancing awareness of such products and utilizing the purchasing power of the federal government and other large purchasers. EPA has created the Greener Products website to share resources and expertise on these issues.
- Disclosure and Reporting — EPA is increasingly using reporting and disclosure of information on environmental performance as a key factor in promoting sustainability. Since 2005, EPA has been working with the financial markets on disclosure and use of environmental data in financial evaluation and decision making.
- Green Workforce Development — Emerging functions such as incorporating workforce development into agency activities, particularly at the community level, are important contributors to the transition to a greener economy.