Kroger CEO Greg Foran was invited to the White House to pose for a photo celebrating a major climate change regulation phasing out super-polluting refrigerants grocery stores use.

Those refrigerants, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), often leak and are a major driver of the climate crisis. And supermarkets like Kroger are one of the largest sources of leaks.

Eliminating HFCs and adopting climate-friendly natural refrigerants is a top solution to address the climate crisis that can prevent nearly half a degree of global warming. Which may not sound like a lot but it really is a big deal.

Join Green America in sending this letter to Kroger CEO Greg Foran telling him: to address climate change Kroger must enact real solutions.

Sign onto the Letter

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

ZIP Postal Code

By taking this action, you'll be signed up for Green America's action alerts, updates, and green living tips. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Letter to Kroger Leadership

CEO

John

Furner

Walmart

Investor

Relations

Walmart

Investor Relations

Investor

Relations

Kroger

CEO

Greg

Foran

Kroger

CEO

Susan

Morris

Safeway/Albertsons

Investor Relations

Investor

Relations

Safeway/Albertsons

To:  Greg Foran, Chairman and CEO, The Kroger Co. Address: The Kroger Co., 1014 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202  

Dear Mr. Foran and Kroger Leadership,  

We are writing to urge Kroger to take bold action to eliminate the climate-damaging hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) from your refrigeration systems, while significantly reducing refrigerant leaks in the meantime. We also urge Kroger to not adopt HFOs or HFO blends, as these are false solutions.  

Your record demands accountability.  

Last month, Kroger reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. EPA requiring the company to pay $2.5 million in civil penalties and spend $100 million over two years to retrofit or replace 600 refrigeration units.  Those leaks were the result of a pattern of noncompliance that stretched from 2014 to 2023. The EPA found that Kroger repeatedly failed to repair leaks, replace failing equipment, and maintain proper records. Your leak rate of 10.6% — already above the 9.5% threshold you have now agreed to meet — is a measure of years of inaction.  

HFCs are not a minor compliance issue. They are, as your own CSR reporting documents, responsible for a staggering 63% of Kroger's direct climate emissions. These chemicals carry global warming potentials hundreds to thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide. Every year of delay compounds the harm.  

Your White House appearance was the wrong message.  

On May 21, 2026, Mr. Foran joined the Trump administration at a ceremony celebrating the rollback of EPA rules that would have accelerated the phase-down of HFCs. The Food Industry Association — of which Kroger is a member — praised the delay of compliance deadlines as relieving "significant costs and unrealistic compliance requirements." Meanwhile, the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, representing the manufacturers who would build the cleaner systems, warned the rollback would "inject uncertainty across the market" and could ultimately raise prices.  

Kroger's participation in that ceremony sent a signal to your customers and to the planet: that you are willing to use the language of affordability(which in this case is not accurate, as climate chaos, tariffs, and increased fuel costs are the main drivers for increased grocery costs), to justify continued reliance on some of the most potent greenhouse gases in existence no matter the cost of resulting climate change damage to the communities you serve. That is not a trade-off that Kroger, its shareholders, and its stakeholders, should accept.  

Natural refrigerants are the real solution — not HFOs.  

We urge Kroger to commit to a rapid transition to natural refrigerants — CO₂ (R-744), propane (R-290), and ammonia (R-717) — which have near-zero global warming potential and represent the true path forward for the grocery sector. Your competitors are already moving in this direction: Aldi, Whole Foods, and Target have all taken meaningful steps toward ultra-low GWP refrigerants.  

We also specifically urge Kroger not to pursue hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs) or HFO blends as a substitute. While marketed as a lower-GWP alternative, HFOs break down into trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and other persistent pollutants that threaten the environment and human health. They are not a climate solution.  They are a regrettable substitution, and a continuation of chemical dependency dressed up in greener language.  

What we are asking Kroger to do:  

1. Commit to natural refrigerants. Set a public, time-bound commitment to transition all stores to natural refrigerants, including CO₂, propane, or ammonia, with a clear phase-out schedule significantly ahead of any regulatory minimum.  

2. Reject HFOs and HFO blends as a transitional or permanent solution and exclude them from your refrigerant roadmap.  

3. Immediately and aggressively reduce leak rates. The DOJ settlement required you to stay below 9.5% annually. Kroger should treat that as a ceiling, not a target. Kroger must implement robust leak detection and repair programs across all 3,000+ stores, not just the 600 covered by the settlement.  

4. Publicly disclose your leak reduction progress on an annual basis, broken down by brand and region, so customers and shareholders can hold you accountable.  

5. Withdraw your support for regulatory rollbacks that slow the HFC phase-down, and instead advocate publicly for a strong, accelerated national transition to natural refrigerants.  

6. Use the $100 million in court-mandated upgrades as an opportunity. Wherever new equipment is being installed, choose natural refrigerant systems from the start.  

Kroger has nearly 3,000 stores and serves millions of Americans every day. You have the scale to make a meaningful difference on this issue. The settlement you just reached should be a turning point, not a check-the-box compliance exercise.

Your customers, your shareholders, 35% of whom voted to push you to act on refrigerants, and the climate are all asking for more. We urge you to lead, not lag.

Sincerely,
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

Your first and last name will be used as a sign-off on the letter.

Example:

Sincerely,

John Smith

Cool It for the Climate

Big Grocers Should Reject Climate Denial

Trump may be inviting grocery CEOs to celebrate environmental rollbacks—but climate change won’t disappear. Tell major grocery chains to support real climate solutions.

Sign onto the Letter

By taking this action, you'll be signed up for Green America's action alerts, updates, and green living tips. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Letter to Kroger Leadership

Share This Petition