Is the Energy Star critique throwing the baby out with the bathwater?
You heard the news about the GAO report on Energy Star. (Scroll down to March 5.) When I first heard the story, I dismissed it. When I read it, I reconsidered, and still thought it was unimportant. Now, having read the report, I think poor reporting highlighted red herrings (like the feather-duster-space-heater) and mostly missed the real issues that the GAO uncovered. First, the red herrings. • Approval of non-existent products – sure, the program ought to be smarter than letting them in and they must fix the problem. But so what? No one is being ripped off when they buy those products, because they don’t exist. Not a big deal. • This got less reporting, but some qualifying products (including super-efficient ones) don’t carry the logo. Energy Star is a voluntary program. If manufacturers don’t want to accept the gift of free marketing from a well-recognized program that is proven to increase demand, that’s their problem. Another issue the GAO highlighted is easy access to the label,
