While we at EarthPm assert that “a project run with green intent is the right thing to do”, we are also realists. Businesses cannot stay in business if they constantly lose money on their ventures. If businesses are to be encouraged to do that right thing, a noble effort, they will also need to “justify” the bottom-line. That is why we, along with a lot of other people, say that it is not only the right thing to do, but going green makes cents.
A couple of weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal included a section on the environment, ECO:nomics – Creating Environmental Capital. In this EarthPM post, we’d like to highlight a couple of the “Best Practices” outlined in the section. It not only included what works, but also contrasted with what doesn’t work according to some “green leaders”. For instance, from Steve Fludder, VP Ecomagination, GE (one of the companies featured in our upcoming book), on businesses addressing climate change, a business should “continue to focus on improving your company’s own energy efficiency” (feeds the bottom-line), and “don’t let the current uncertainty over government action become an excuse to stop innovating”. For financing green projects (of particular interest to us as project managers), Richard Cohen, Managing Director, Environmental Strategic Investment Group, Bank of America, says “create new training and education programs to train the energy work force”, and the current government and regulatory environment “are Byzantine and bureaucratic, and that discourages financing”. There is much more in this Wall Street Journal section that we find very interesting, including a view from “big oil”, and a top ten ranking of “clean-tech” companies. Look to future posts for some more information on these and other topics.
President Obama announced yesterday that he would provide$2.3 billion dollars of stimulus money to spur the job market. That money would be available, in the form of tax credits, to companies, like 
Energy Star – Epic Fail
Gasoline-Powered Alarm Clock, certified by US as EnergyStar compliant
It’s April, but not April 1 (or April Fool’s Day).
We wish it were April Fool’s Day, and we wish this was a fake news story, but instead – it’s a real news story about some fake products getting real EnergyStar certification.
Let us explain.
The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) sent in 20 applications for the EnergyStar certification. All 20 applications were for fake products, many of them outlandish devices, as you’ll see below. 15 of the 20 received EnergyStar certifications.
From the recent (March 2010) GAO report:
GAO’s investigation shows that Energy Star is for the most part a self-certification program vulnerable to fraud and abuse. GAO obtained Energy Star certifications for 15 bogus products, including a gas-powered alarm clock. Two bogus products were rejected by the program and 3 did not receive a response. In addition, two of the bogus Energy Star firms developed by GAO received requests from real companies to purchase products because the bogus firms were listed as Energy Star partners. This clearly shows how heavily American consumers rely on the Energy Star brand. The program is promoted through tax credits and appliance rebates, and federal agencies are required to purchase certain Energy Star certified products. In addition, companies use the Energy Star certification to market their products and consumers buy products relying on the certification by the government of reduced energy consumption and costs. For example, in 2008 Energy Star reported saving consumers $19 billion dollars on utility costs.
One of the other products which received a certification was an “air cleaner” – made from a space heater with a feather duster attached to it. See the actual photo from the GAO application below.
Actual photo submitted by GAO of "Air Cleaner", made from a space heater with a feather duster stuck in the grille. It received EnergyStar certification.
This illustrates the need for more attention to energy and conservation regulation, and the initiation of some new projects in the area of EnergyStar compliance. Not the hiring of hundreds of bureaucrats in an endless sea of cubicles – just more attention and focus on what should be a key focus of government.
The EPA and DOE did respond to the audit by GAO with this statement.
Read more (and listen to an audio podcast) at the National Public Radio (NPR) link here. Or, read a Yahoo news release on the subject here.
And remind us to set our gas-powered alarm clock to ridiculous-o’clock!