Shocker: Voluntary measures to reduce greenhouse gases don’t work so well, the U.S. EPA Inspector General’s Office said Thursday. Despite the Bush administration’s adoration of the word “voluntary,” such programs have “limited potential” to actually address pollution and climate-change concerns, said the report. Too often, industries decline to spend money to participate in such programs; when they do, the data they offer can be unreliable. The U.S. has 11 voluntary pollution-reduction programs, 10 of which were launched during the Clinton administration, aimed at reducing emissions from aluminum smelters, landfills, coal mines, and agriculture operations. Those programs will reduce pollutants by no more than 19 percent by 2010, says the report, adding, “If EPA wishes to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions beyond this point, it needs to consider additional policy options.”
