Well, my friends, the government is at it again. This time, the scandal resides with the EnergyStar program, which approves energy-saving products. The New York Times reports that the Government Accountability Office submitted twelve bogus products since last June and all the products got approved. So, if we are going to go green, shouldn't we know what the hell we are doing? The GAO set up fake companies that submitted nonexistent products to test approval procedures at the EnergyStar program. "The fake companies submitted data indicating that the models consumed 20 percent less energy than even the most efficient ones on the market. Yet those applications were mostly approved without a challenge or even questions, the report said."
Without a challenge? It gets more damning. Many of the approvals were issued by an automated machine with zero human interaction. Maria Vargas, an official with the Environmental Protection Agency, which administers the program within the Energy Department, insisted that the automated system is only preliminary and that every product is also screened by a human. However, congressional auditors were told different by EnergyStar workers.
Senator Susan Collins (Republican-Maine), who requested the audit, said it was "really troubling" that "this program is extraordinarily easy to defraud." Fake products submitted by the GAO included a gasoline powered alarm clock and an air purifier that was nothing more than an electric space heater with a feather duster on top.
Even previous reports have shown problems within the EnergyStar program. "Last October, for example, the inspector general of the E.P.A. said that 100 percent of the computer monitors that carried the EnergyStar logo had indeed met requirements. But so did 80 percent of the monitors that did not have the logo; the manufacturers had apparently not sought approval. For computer printers, 95 percent of the ones with the logo qualified, but so did 60 percent of the ones that did not have the logo."
In that same month, an Energy Department inspector general said many, if not most, EnergyStar programs are not "accurate or verifiable." Some companies, such as those that manufacture fluorescent lights, are required to have independent lab tests, but others, such as makers of refrigerators and air conditioners, simply have to check a box on a form to receive EnergyStar approval.
Besides products that were not real, auditors found more EnergyStar problems. "They determined that once a company registered as an EnergyStar partner, it could download the logo from the government's Web site and paste it on products for which it had not even requested approval." Well, even the EnergyStar idiots knew that was illegal, but they even found a way to screw up attempts to emphasize the rules. "Program officials told the auditors that they sought to assure honesty by warning corporate applicants on some of its paperwork that intentionally submitting false information is a crime, under Title 18 of the United States Code."However, the crime is under Title 19, not 18.
I previously wrote about how the
government failed on regulating Toyota. How has that been working out? Not very good.
Most people know that we consume way too much energy. However, if in our attempts to lower our energy usage and prevent an energy crisis we end up using more energy or the same amount, we are not doing anything but lying to ourselves. We must be more vigilante than ever in order to make a greener planet. Mind you, I am not even talking about our
coming oil crisis. I am talking about personal and business usage. You know, that old stuff electricity.
Many of our modern environmental standards discourage the building of power plants. However, that is often because companies would rather stay smaller than face increased rules and regulation. When population and demand rises, these power companies become taxed. When that happens, energy prices rise a little bit understandably to help the companies increased cost for repairs or upgrades. At the same time, dramatic price increases occur because energy market manipulators latch on to a crisis and drive up price.
Without honestly making an effort to have lower electrical output and increase the types of alternative electrical energy such as wind farms, solar power, and geothermal power. Heck, we can even have the power companies running using their own power.
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That IS bogus! This entry is on today's "Hot on ChicagoNow:"
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/hot-on-chicagonow/2010/03/hot-on-chicagonow-march-26-2010.html