U.S. EPA Eliminating Voluntary "Climate Leaders" Program

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