The Climate Report - Winter 2011
On September 15, 2010, U.S. EPA sent
a letter to its Climate Leaders industry partners
informing them that it will wind down the Climate Leaders program
over the next year. Since 2002, the Climate Leaders program has
assisted some of the nation's largest companies in voluntarily
determining their carbon footprint, establishing emission reduction
goals, sharing best practices, and receiving public recognition for
their efforts.
In its letter, EPA said it "has determined that climate
programs operated by the states and NGOs are now robust enough to
service our Partners and other entities that wish to continue to
advance their climate leadership through comprehensive reporting
(that exceed mandatory reporting requirements) and/or the
establishment of facility or corporate-level [greenhouse gas]
reduction goals." Another factor is EPA's shifting focus
from voluntary climate change efforts, such as Climate Leaders, to
implementation of the Agency's new mandatory greenhouse gas
reporting program.
At a meeting in October 2010 with industry partners to discuss the
phase-out of Climate Leaders, company representatives reportedly
expressed disappointment with and surprise at EPA's decision,
since the program was generally viewed as an overall success by
those that participated. Some company officials questioned whether
the move represents a philosophical shift away from use of the
"carrot" of voluntary cooperation, leaving only the
regulatory enforcement "stick."
As the program winds down over the next year, EPA intends to
"encourage and assist the transition of our Partners into
non-federal programs that our Partners choose to join."
Alternatives include the Carbon Disclosure Project, which collects
greenhouse gas emissions data from many of the world's largest
companies each year, and The Climate Registry, which is a voluntary
multistate initiative extending into Canada. Asserting that it
intends to continue to promote climate leadership efforts, EPA said
it will "pursue a jointly sponsored recognition program with
one or more NGOs to allow our Partners and other climate leaders to
continue to be acknowledged for their greenhouse gas
reductions."
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