Disillusioned with the progress so far on national climate change legislation, a group of highly visible sustainability stewards is starting a coast-to-coast marketing and awareness effort using the collective power of their big brands.

The “Race for American Jobs and Clean Energy Leadership” campaign is backed by the Clean Economy Network and the Ceres Business for Climate and Energy Policy group (aka BICEP, which has to be one of the world’s best acronyms). That organization includes the likes of eBay, Gap, Levi Strauss, Nike, Starbucks and Symantec.

The intention of the road show isn’t just to lobby (although that goal is obvious by the states it has picked: Colorado, Ohio and New Hampshire). It also is to gauge support of business leaders along the way in the form of petition signatures urging the Senate to move forward with stalled climate legislation.

The contention of these business leaders is that a failure to take a proactive stand on climate change will put the United States at a competitive disadvantage vis a vis countries that move forward more quickly. The show stops on March 10, when the group is scheduled to arrive in Washington, D.C.

So, the real question is: how much of a responsibility does the federal government have in providing the foundation for sustainable business through legislation that supports clean energy in at least the same way that legacy energy generation methods are supported.

Or should we allow the free-market economy to do its thing?