The White House released a directive to agencies today on making the federal fleet more energy efficient. In the memo, President Obama said the government owed “a responsibility to American citizens to lead by example” to help meet goals of reducing oil imports and increasing the number of energy efficient vehicles on the roads.

The memo sets a December 31, 2015, deadline by which all new vehicles leased or purchased by the government must be alternative fueled vehicles.

In addition, the White House has directed GSA to provide agencies guidance on making their fleet more efficient. The GSA has 90 days to distribute these Vehicle Allocation Methodology (VAM) to agencies.

The memo also directs the Energy Department to work with the U.S. Postal Service to evaluate the “best alternative fuel technologies for the USPS fleet.”

The GSA announced that they will purchase 116 plug-in vehicles to be leased to 20 agencies in Washington, Detroit, and Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, Calif. Last September, the GSA awarded contracts to General Motors, Nissan and THINK City for pilot vehicles, including 101 Chevrolet Volts.

According to the agency, approximately 50 percent of the GSA’s 210,000 currently leased vehicle are alternative fuel vehicles.

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