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Telecommuting and the Environment

© Leslie Truex

On Monday I attended a speech at the National Press Club in Washington DC given by actress and animal advocate Stefanie Powers. The topic was on the hunting of wild animals in Africa but covered general conservation issues as well. I have always been one to sympathize with the endangerment and extinction of animals as well as the concerns over the destruction of the earth. However, I have done little more than recycle to help in the cause. After this meeting when I learned such things as because of toxins in the air, there is now a lake where for 50 million years there was ice in the North Pole, I decided that maybe I should do more. One way to do more is take a more active role in legislation and policies that promote not only the environment but telecommuting as well. According the Environmental Protection Agency, if 10% of Americans telecommuted to work just one day per week, they would conserve about 1.2 million gallons of fuel. That would prevent approximately 24 million pounds of pollutants from entering the atmosphere ... per week.

While President George W. Bush backed off his stance regarding the protection of the environment, the Federal Government has taken an active role in promoting telecommuting as a way to reduce pollution and conserve fuel. Rep. Frank Wolf, R from Virginia authored a bill that created pilot telecommuting programs in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston and Chicago for the purpose of decreasing traffic and pollution. The National Environmental Policy Institute, the Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy developed this pilot program.

On Oct. 23, 2000, President Clinton signed a law (PL-106-346, Section 359) that requires federal agencies to establish rules on telecommuting and to encourage participation as much as possible without compromising productivity. While many of the Federal agencies are struggling in their implementation of this policy, one cannot overlook the significance of this endeavor in promoting telecommuting.

You can help spread the acceptance of telecommuting by supporting the government's efforts. Writing letters and calling your representatives is one way of doing this. You can also inform and educate your boss and other companies to the benefits of telecommuting not just to the environment but to their "bottom line" as well.

To learn more about government policies regarding telecommuting, visit http://www.house.gov/house/Legproc.html. Keyword "telecommuting" yielded the most responses when searching for legislation on telecommuting. You can also visit your state government web site to search for telecommuting policies enacted by your state. California in particular has telecommuting programs.

The copyright of the article Telecommuting and the Environment in Telecommuting is owned by Leslie Truex. Permission to republish Telecommuting and the Environment in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.