About Social Media Today
The very successful Energy Star program has been getting some attention lately. Not necessarily the kind it wants, or deserves.
Without delving into the blame game, someone in our political system decided it was a good idea to make Energy Star look stupid by presenting some silly products for approval. They got approved. And Energy Star looked stupid.
Does it have anything to do with the fact that, in 2003, a certain presidential administration reduced funding for Energy Star by about 30%?. To be sure, our current administration should have done something to prevent this. Well, in November last year, the current administration actually did: The EPA found that Energy Star would be stronger with more rigorous qualification testing (pdf).
Still, it seems everyone's getting into the "bash the government program" game, even sites like TreeHugger, whom we tend to think see the world through a slightly more enlightened lens. I have read TreeHugger for a few years now, and I've seen them fall into the occasional trap themselves. Case in point: They corrected their original post on the water-powered car, after a few people who understand physics pointed out that the concept was absurd.
To be clear, while Energy Star may have suffered some tarnish to its sparkle, it's a tremendously successful program. By its count, Energy Star savings in 2009 reduced electricity costs by $17 billion. That's a lot of money (it's kind of hard to keep track of what's a lot of money these days).
Energy Star has grown over time to be a model collaboration between businesses and consumers, too (pdf). And few realize that it stands for much more than efficient appliances. Energy Star also represents Home Performance Contractors, and is an emerging standard for homes. It is hard to envision a more important brand in energy efficiency. Although Energy Star standards alone aren't efficient enough for the standards we believe in at Energy Circle, they are the benchmark we seek to build from.
An agreed upon, resonant, broadly known brand standard in energy efficiency is worth fighting for, not picking on. I know old habits die hard. But perhaps it's time to admit that governments are fallible and that we should occasionally give our public servants a little credit for doing something right.
