The U.S. Embassy Joins Labib to Protect the Environment
Gordon Gray, the U.S. Ambassador to Tunis, launched yesterday the Embassy’s Green Program, an ambitious initiative to encourage embassy employees and their families to protect the environment by conserving resources.
Volunteering their time and creativity, Embassy employees formed the Tunis Eco-Friendly Action Forum (TEAF) to design, coordinate, and implement environmentally-aware projects that will be carried out within the Embassy by American and Tunisian employees, with the collaboration of local NGOs and institutions. TEAF created a list of short and long term priorities with the ultimate goal to have the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia have the smallest carbon footprint of any U.S. Embassy in the region. TEAF disseminated easy and practical tips – such as washing clothes in cold water only and unplugging all electronics and power chargers when not in use - to raise employees’s awareness about ecological issues and the pressing need to preserve a clean and pollution free environment for future generations.
In his speech in support of the TEAF launch, Ambassador Gray confirmed his support for the project and stressed the importance of environmental protection. He reminded the audience that “the embassy is not only an office building, it’s a family of people… working to make the embassy facilities more efficient, to become aware of how we affect the environment and to actively do something about it.” In order to achieve TEAF goals of reduced energy consumption and increased environmental awareness, Mission employees will be asked to change their patterns of behavior by reading documents online instead of printing out a hard copy and making sure to turn off lights and computer monitors when they leave the office at the end of the day.
President Obama has often referred to the environment as a critical issue no less important than the economy, education and healthcare. In a speech early this year, the President said “it is critical we understand this is not just a challenge, it’s an opportunity, because if we create a new energy economy, we can create five million new jobs, easily. It can be an engine that drives us into the future the same way the computer was the engine for economic growth over the last couple of decades.” Inaction will result in grave consequences for mankind. As the President said in his remarks at the U.N. Climate Change Summit in September, “…threat from climate change is serious, it is urgent, and it is growing. Our generation's response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it -- boldly, swiftly, and together -- we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe.”
The Greening Diplomacy Initiative is a worldwide program involving U.S. Embassies under the leadership of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.