U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is calling out Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm for her statement that the Biden administration is “practicing what they preach” regarding saving energy in federal buildings after a new report revealed that government buildings in Washington, D.C. are at 26 percent capacity and only eight people a day are allegedly showing up to DOE headquarters.
“Your release goes on to say the administration will be ‘providing resources, opportunities for grant funding, training, and technical assistance’ to achieve the goal of ‘net-zero emissions from all federal buildings.’ This sounds more like another excuse to spend taxpayer dollars on a Green New Deal jobs program, since the Biden administration is wasting money and energy operating empty office buildings all over Washington, D.C. as bureaucrats continue working from home,” Ernst wrote.
The Public Buildings Reform Board, which conducted the attendance survey, contacted DOE for clarification but is still awaiting a response—perhaps because nobody is home!
“If the administration is serious about practicing what it preaches on energy conservation, instead of spending more money, you could instead stop paying to heat, cool, light, and operate the ghost town of vacant buildings all around Washington, D.C. Camouflaging new government spending in green doesn’t save money or energy. You can go green without going in the red by reducing the size of unused and unnecessary government buildings. Now that’s the real green new deal for taxpayers!” Ernst concluded.
To know the full extent of wasted space, Ernst is taking inventory and requesting answers of space utilization to determine if DOE should sell off unused space, in compliance with the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act.
Read the full letter here.
