Energy Star Ratings in Doubt After Sting Operation
You know those appliances that have an Energy Star sticker on them that promises that the items are energy efficient? Well, it turns out that those stickers may not mean much. Investigators from the General Accounting Office (GAO) submitted 20 totally ridiculous fake products to the government agency. Fifteen were approved and granted the Energy Star label, including a gas powered alarm clock and an absurd-sounding "room cleaner."
Federal investigators who submitted phony products, such as a gas-powered alarm clock, to the government's energy efficiency certification program found it easy to obtain approval for the devices, according to a report released Friday.
Among the bogus devices that obtained certification was a "room air cleaner" that, in a picture prominently displayed on the website of a fictitious company, showed an electric space heater with a feather duster and strips of fly paper attached to it.
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Investigators with the Government Accountability Office said they obtained Energy Star approval for 15 of 20 fake products they submitted for certification with energy-savings claims. Two were rejected and three did not receive a response. Two of the certified products received purchase requests by real companies because four bogus firms, developed for the purpose of this investigation, were listed as Energy Star partners.
The Energy Star program is run jointly by the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy. Needless to say, they are both completely embarrassed by the results of the sting operation. Both agencies promised to begin
"an enhanced testing program and have already taken enforcement actions against companies that have violated the rules." We certainly hope so.
