A covert investigation conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that Energy Star, the EPA’s 18-year-old energy efficiency program, will put its seal of approval on just about anything — as long as the necessary paperwork is filled out.
Apparently it’s mostly a self-certification program – which apparently worked out about as well as self-regulation on Wall Street has.
Are there any parts of our government that have not been corrupted or rendered useless?
I’ve known this for a while, it’s kind of like the BBB logo. All you have to do is have a business tracked by them, and you’re good. You could have tons of complaints against you at the BBB, but still use the logo. Most people see the logo and assume your business is good without doing the follow up. Same with energy star, just register your devices power usage and you can use the logo. It’s up to the consumer to check the rating and compare it to other like devices.
One thing I like about some of the stores I go to is that they list the stats for major appliances as an attached sheet. Makes a huge difference when deciding if spending the extra $75 on a fridge is worth it for it’s energy efficiency.