The Energy Information Administration reports that in 1998, 187 U.S. companies and organizations undertook 1,507 projects aimed to reduce or offset greenhouse gas emissions by 212 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This adds up to approximately 3.2% of total U.S. emissions for the year. This figure is almost three times the 74 million metric tons of reductions and offsets reported in 1994, the first year of the voluntary reporting program.

The electric power sector leads the way in the program with 105 reporters. These include nearly all of the largest generating utilities in the United States, encompassing such projects as improved plant efficiencies, cogeneration, use of non-fossil fuels, and demand-side management programs that reduce power use by their customers.

The number of participants from outside the electric power industry was more than six times the number reporting in the first year of the program, and includes such industries as automobile manufacturing, petroleum production and refining, coal mining, the chemical industry, the metals industry, and health care to name a few.

The Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program was developed to find innovative, low-cost, and nonregulatory approaches to limit emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and halogenated substances. The program is a way for a company or organization to establish a public record of its achievements in reducing or offsetting emissions.