Sustainability

Air Trends. Under the Clean Air Act, EPA has established national air quality standards for six principal air pollutants to protect public health and the environment.

Best Practices: Industrial Technology. This Department of Energy program works with industry to identify opportunities for efficiency and energy savings.

Clean Cities Program. This EPA program aims to enhance our nation's energy security and air quality by supporting public and private partnerships that deploy clean-burning alternative fuel vehicles and develop the associated fueling infrastructure.

Clean Energy. Clean energy is derived from efficient, clean technologies, including renewable "green" power and combined heat-and-power technologies.

Climate Change. Given the pressing issues surrounding climate change, citizens can learn how to reduce their contribution to the emission of greenhouse gases that can lead to climate change.

Climate Change and Water Strategy. EPA’s National Water Program Strategy identifies the potential impacts of climate change on water resources and how EPA proposes to respond.

Climate Leaders. This EPA-industry partnership encourages companies to develop comprehensive strategies concerning climate change.

Coal Combustion Products (CCP) Partnership Program. This cooperative effort by EPA, the CCP industry, and other partners promotes the use of CCPs, which offer associated environmental, economic, and performance benefits.

Coalbed Methane Outreach Program (CMOP). This EPA program aims to reduce methane emissions from coal mining activities. Working with coal and related industries, CMOP helps to identify and implement methods to profitably recover and use methane from coal mines.

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Partnership. This EPA program fosters cost-effective projects, engaging the CHP industry, state and local governments, and other stakeholders to expand the use of CHP.

Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards. The Department of Transportation establishes required efficiency levels for new vehicles in the U.S.

Economics of Climate Change. In the case of climate change, the uncertainty inherent in economic analyses of environmental regulations is magnified by the long-term and global scale of the problem.

Emissions Trading. This site provides links to information about EPA's use of economic incentives for air pollution control.

Energy Conservation. EPA's Energy and Water Efficiency Program ensures that the agency uses natural resources efficiently when designing, constructing, and maintaining its facilities.

Energy Efficiency. This site describes Department of Energy programs to develop energy-efficient technologies for buildings, homes, transportation, power systems, and industry.

Energy Star. This EPA- and Department of Energy-sponsored program helps businesses and individuals to protect the environment through enhanced energy efficiency.

Federal Energy Reduction Requirements. EPA and other federal agencies are required to report energy use and carbon emissions and to reduce energy consumption by buildings and vehicles.

Fuel Economy and Emissions. Given the importance of fuel economy, the federal government administers three programs to provide information to consumers about fuel economy and to encourage the production of fuel-efficient vehicles.

Fuels and Fuel Additives. In accordance with the federal Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA establishes fuel quality standards to help protect public health and the environment from harmful gas and particulate matter emissions from motor vehicles and engines.

Green Vehicle Guide. This guide enables citizens to choose the cleanest and most fuel-efficient vehicle to meet their needs.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculator.  This online calculator can estimate your own or your family’s greenhouse gas emissions and explore the impact of various actions to reduce those emissions.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory. This site provides a broad overview of U.S. greenhouse gas emission sources and sinks, introduces key concepts, and discusses the primary drivers for changes in emissions.

Greening EPA. EPA continuously works to reduce the environmental impact of its facilities and operations, from building new, environmentally sustainable structures to improving the energy efficiency of older buildings.

Greening EPA: Buildings. EPA promotes energy and resource efficiency in its existing buildings and new construction.

Greening EPA: Renewable Energy. EPA purchases green power, often in the form of renewable energy certificates, equivalent to about 76 percent of the agency's total electricity use.

Greening EPA's Fleet. About one-third of the vehicles in EPA's national fleet are alternative-fuel vehicles or employ hybrid-electric or other advanced technologies.

Green Power Partnership. Industry partners in this EPA program pledge to replace a portion of their electricity consumption with green power within a year of joining the Partnership.

Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, & Infrastructure Technologies Program. This Department of Energy program integrates activities in hydrogen production, storage, and delivery with transportation and stationary fuel cell activities.

It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air. This initiative in public education and partnership-building, sponsored by EPA and the Department of Transportation, supports regional, state, and community efforts to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.

Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP). This program encourages landfills across the country to capture their landfill gas emissions and use them as an energy source.

National Biofuels Action Plan. This plan outlines areas where interagency cooperation will help to evolve bio-based fuel production technologies from promising ideas to competitive solutions.

National Renewable Fuel Standard Program. Under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, EPA is responsible for revising and implementing regulations to ensure that gasoline sold in the U.S. contains at least a minimum volume of renewable fuel.

National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory. This EPA laboratory is part of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) which is responsible for implementing laws to control air pollution from motor vehicles, engines, and their fuels.

Sector Strategies Program. This site describes the environmental gains made through innovative actions that EPA has taken with manufacturing and service sectors.

SmartWay Go and Gro. This program was developed by the EPA to promote the environmental benefits of renewable fuels.

SmartWay Transport. This partnership with firms in the freight industry establishes incentives for improving fuel efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Streamlining and Stewardship: Transportation. This Department of Transportation program seeks to ensure that transportation improvements are environmentally responsible and delivered to communities in a timely manner.

Transportation and Air Quality. This site provides links to information about air pollution from vehicles such as motor vehicles, boats and ships, trains, aircrafts, and from the fuels that they use – and how individuals and organizations can make travel choices that minimize pollution.

Transportation, Community, and System Preservation Pilot Program. This Department of Transportation grant program helps states, local governments, and metropolitan planning organizations plan and implement strategies to improve the efficiency and reduce the environmental impacts of transportation systems.

Voluntary Diesel Retrofit Program. This program addresses pollution from currently operating diesel construction equipment and heavy-duty vehicles.

Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program. This Department of Energy program works with industry to keep U.S. wind and hydropower energy technology competitive in global markets, thus strengthening the national economy.