Small businesses could be shut out of lucrative government contracts because of the massive compliance costs imposed under a proposed Biden administration rule that would require large federal contractors to reduce and publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions.
The proposed rule would make the U.S. the first national government to require major federal contractors to set climate goals in line with the 2015 Paris Accord.
Administration officials say using the federal government’s purchasing power as a private-sector cudgel could eliminate roughly 85% of greenhouse gas emissions associated with the federal supply chain. That’s more than twice the emissions generated from the 300,000 buildings and 600,000 vehicles the federal government owns outright, the White House said in a fact sheet.