WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department announced plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 30 percent of 2008 levels within the next year.
The State Department said it was tapping into the renewable energy market through a deal with Constellation Energy, an investor in wind and solar power.
An energy savings agreement with Constellation energy will advance wind and solar development in Pennsylvania and New Jersey under the terms of a 20-year contract with the U.S. government.
The deal includes providing electricity to parts of the White House campus, the U.S. State Department and other government facilities. The deal could cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30 percent of their 2008 levels by next year.
"This innovative agreement serves as a model for federal agency energy management with a cost-effective, public-private effort that will create jobs through the development of clean energy resources," Mayo Shattuck III, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Constellation Energy, said in a statement.
Constellation aims to get power from a $50 million solar project in New Jersey and through the purchase of electricity from a Pennsylvania wind farm.
U.S. President Barack Obama during his State of the Union address in January outlined plans to use clean energy for 80 percent of the nation's demand by 2035.
