They Should Volunteer to Be Penalized for That

Bush's voluntary emissions-reduction programs not amounting to much

Are you sitting down? We've got some earth-shattering news: the Bush administration's voluntary programs to reduce industrial greenhouse-gas emissions aren't working. A report issued yesterday by the Government Accountability Office stated that many industry participants in the U.S. EPA's voluntary "Climate Leaders" program and the Department of Energy's voluntary "Climate VISION" program were not setting specific emissions-reduction goals or inventorying or reporting on their emissions. According to the report, as of November 2005, only 38 of the 74 participants in the EPA program had set reduction goals; an EPA spokesflack responded that the program now has 87 participants, with half committed to reducing emissions. Holding strong at 50 percent! Eleven of the 15 trade groups involved in the DOE program have established targets, but only five have reported their emissions. Wonder why this plan isn't working. Anyone like to volunteer an opinion?