Many Climate Leaders members felt burned when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced, in September 2010, that it would shutter the popular program, which provided technical assistance and public recognition for companies that sought to reduce their carbon emissions.

The cross-sector Climate Leaders program spurred companies to calculate their greenhouse gas emissions and set goals to reduce them. Participants earned recognition for their achievements. The program had nearly 200 members operating in all 50 U.S. states, collectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 50 million metric tons per year. It was a win-win, hailed as an example of a voluntary carbon-cutting program that encouraged action in the absence of federal climate legislation.

The reasons given for terminating Climate Leaders included the existence of other programs available to help with greenhouse gas inventories and goal-setting, and compliance developments, such as the EPA's first-ever emissions reporting rule. Some participants complained the EPA wanted to play a more regulatory role, noting that the agency had also discontinued Performance Track, another voluntary program, the year before.

Other programs do fulfill pieces of the Climate Leaders program (though no individual program covers all parts). However, one piece that had been lacking was a similar recognition program to that offered by the EPA.

On Tuesday, a group of nonprofits stepped up to announce an awards and recognition program that will serve as a legacy to the Climate Leaders program. The EPA will jointly sponsor the new program, which plans to hand out its inaugural awards early next year.

Strength in Numbers

The EPA accepted a joint proposal from The Climate Registry (TCR), the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO) to co-sponsor a program with the agency. The groups began discussing the possibility of working together on an awards program at the Climate Leaders' annual meeting in October, held a few weeks after news of the program's demise was announced.

"The seed was planted there," said Denise Sheehan, TCR executive director. "When the EPA came out with its request for proposals, it occurred to all of us that to provide a strong proposal, it would be better to submit it together than individually."