TALLAHASSEE -- To celebrate Earth Day 2009, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink has announced that her Division of Legal Services has qualified as a Partner in the Law Office Climate Challenge sponsored by the American Bar Association (ABA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Department of Financial Services will be the first government agency in Florida to have its legal department qualify for the voluntary partnership, which is specifically designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in law offices.

“As Florida’s fiscal watchdog, I am committed to fiscal responsibility and accountability, as well as environmental stewardship,” said CFO Sink. “By taking these steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we can save taxpayers’ dollars by reducing waste and will also preserve the environment for future generations.”

As part of the qualifications for the ABA-EPA Law Office Climate Challenge, the Legal Services Division will partner with the EPA Energy Star program and will also become the first state office in Florida to become an EPA Waste Wise Partner. These partnerships involves specific steps of best practices for reducing waste, including limiting megawatt hours of electricity and recycling a majority of discarded office papers.

The EPA estimates that if the energy efficiency of commercial and industrial buildings in the U.S. improved 10 percent, Americans would reduce greenhouse gas emissions equal to those from about 30 million vehicles, and would save roughly $20 billion.