Fake Products Receive Energy Star Certification
The GAO successfully obtained Energy Star qualification for 15 bogus products, including a room cleaner represented by a photograph of a feather duster adhered to a space heater. Photo: U.S. Government Accountability Office
According to a recent government report, 15 fake products received Energy Star certifications, including a 1.5 foot-tall gas-powered alarm clock and an “air room cleaner” (actually a space heater with a feather duster and fly strips attached).
Investigators from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) submitted 20 bogus products to the Energy Star program, which is operated by the EPA and Department of Energy (DOE), for labeling as energy-efficient consumer products. Fifteen of the products passed these specification guidelines:
- Product categories must contribute significant energy savings nationwide.
- Qualified products must deliver the features and performance demanded by consumers, in addition to increased energy efficiency.
- Energy efficiency can be achieved through broadly available, non-proprietary technologies offered by more than one manufacturer.
- Product energy consumption and performance can be measured and verified with testing.
The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, concluded the program to be “a self-certification program vulnerable to fraud and abuse,” due largely to the fact that Energy Star does not verify claims made my manufacturers.
Senator Susan Collins of (R-Maine), ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, requested the study.
The EPA and DOE did respond to the GAO report in a joint news release, outlining the course of action they will take in order to rectify the situation.
“The steps we’re taking now will further strengthen and improve the program, building on the results that consumers have come to expect,” said Cathy Zoi, DOE assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
The outlined steps include both testing and enforcement actions, including an expanded system that will require all products seeking the Energy Star label to be tested in approved labs.
Read more
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New System Rates Home Energy Efficiency
DOE Means Business: Energy Star Label Stripped From Fridges
- United States Government Accountability Office.(03/01/2010). "Energy Star Program." Report to the Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10470.pdf.
As of June 17th 2011 we have upgraded our comment system to use Facebook comments. The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.
Lu Johnson
posted on November 28th, 2010 at 9:21 am
Jeez. Government waste, stupidity and idiocy. This is what we elect and allow to happen when we, the electorate, refuse to keep up with the news, current events, and our world around us. We end up voting stupid, electing pork barrel idiots, and never calling our government departments into question.
There will be no ‘retraining’ of the stupid paper pushers who allowed these sham certifications to happen… It used to be if you didn’t do your job, you were history. THAT is motivation to do a good job, and what is lacking these days in our bureaucracy. Government jobs are becoming so unionized that we the people have no power to kick some lazy ‘entitled’ idiot out of their position. Just try. What happens? Union fueled lawsuits that end up costing hundreds of thousands for a department to defend against, destroying their budget. They’ve got our ba**s in a sling and it has got to stop. Kick the unions out of our government!!!!!!