Senate committee approves telework bill

Last week the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved a bill that would encourage federal agencies to allow workers to make greater use of telecommuting. The Telework Enhancement Act, sponsored by Senators Mary Landrieu and Ted Stevens, would enable federal employees to work from home an average of four days per month.

One week earlier, similar legislation was introduced in the House.

A major impetus for this legislation is the benefit it would have on the environment. According to the Washington Post, Senators Landrieu and Stevens said expanding telecommuting "would get cars off the road, reducing energy costs and cutting pollution."

Those claims jibe with a report issued last month by the Australian telecom company Telstra, which estimated that expanded use of high speed Internet technology could reduce carbon emissions by 27 million tons by 2015.

While the goals in the Telework Enhancement Act are worthy -- and while federal agencies would decide for themselves which employees are eligible to telecommute -- the limiting factor in this effort is the availability of high speed Internet connections. Only when all Americans have high speed connections will we truly be able to take full advantage of telecommuting.

Senate Committee Joins House in Approving Expanded Telecommuting (Washington Post)

Telework Enhancement Act of 2007

Report: High speed Internet could reduce carbon emissions (Speed Matters)