Using State Agencies & Non-Profit Organizations to Drive Environmental Initiatives

Using State Agencies and Commissions to drive governmental mandated obligations on the reduction of greenhouse gas emission seems not to be exactly a first choice for the State of Washington, considering the tight budgetary constraints that are out there. The State’s Department of Ecology and Energy can design and implement strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the environment. It is also possible for the Washington State Department of Transportation to work hand in hand with the Federal Department of Transportation to explore pathways for reducing oil consumption and adopting other alternative fuel as ethanol, synthetic diesel fuel and hydrogen, to reduce transportation greenhouse gas emissions levels. What may however undermine the state’s agencies and commissions’ efforts in effecting reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020, is not only the budget constraint, but the institutional factors that constraints state and federal agencies in achieving efficiency in executing tasks and providing practical solutions to many problems.

To overcome these constraints to government agencies efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, non-profit organizations offer a wealth of avenues and practical experience addressing institutional constraint synoptic of government agencies. How can Non-Profit organizations address institutional factors that can prevent government agencies and commissions meet their mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Non-profit organizations can launch and maintain word of mouth momentum across the communities in the state regarding the education of citizens on their personal contribution to greenhouse gas emission levels. They can be the eye and ear of government agencies seeking to track total emissions of households who live in diverse communities, including the various communities’ contribution to home heating emissions, appliance emissions, water emissions and waste emissions. Non-profit organization can help move measures that create financial incentives for adopting the greening of neighborhoods and communities with trees that create canopy and absorb carbon dioxide from the environment. Non-Profit organizations are well situated to conduct and release research results of human activities that release greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor and methane). By investing, monitoring and researching into new technologies that tracts the concentration of greenhouse gases in the environment, Non-profit organization are able to provide practical cost-effective solutions that reverses average statewide temperature and associated issues in more details than a state agency. What the Non-profit organizations offer are the private sector 'can-do-attitude' to resolving the challenging problems of energy efficiency, clean air, water and environmental pollution monitoring that can save government agencies a ton of money and time.