Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

'Green' May Not Be as Green as You Think

by Evan Shamoon on June 24, 2009 at 07:30 AM


Next time you buy a roll of toilet paper, an automobile, or a USB hard drive based on the "environmentally friendly" marketing claims of its manufacturer, keep these six words in mind: they are all lying to you.

Well, maybe not all of them. But, there is currently very little U.S. regulation to ensure the veracity of green marketing -- companies' promotion of products with claims of eco-friendliness. There is so little regulation (or, at least, enforcement of it), in fact, USA Today reports that the Federal Trade Commission has taken legal action against only three companies for their transgressions against the federal 'Green Guides' since their inception in 1992.

Back in 1992, the FTC was put in charge of enforcing truthful marketing tactics in the world of green products, and from then to 2000 it was at least slightly active, filing at least two or more complaints a year. Like so many other things, however, enforcement almost completely stopped under George W. Bush's administration.

That being said, the Obama administration hasn't been all that much more forthcoming; the FTC's budget for 2009 is just $259 million, and that covers dealing with identity theft, credit fraud, and monopolies. The FTC's James Kohm told USA Today that he works for "a small agency with a huge mission and ... very limited resources," and the numbers seem to say the same. If long-standing promises of a green industrial revolution do wind up coming to fruition, and we really are met with a windfall of jobs, we can only hope that the products we're making are viable, our employers truthful, and our environment grateful. For better or for worse, we think the FTC is indispensable in realizing those hopes. We've about had it with blindly trusting in corporate honesty.

For the time being, though -- since the FTC isn't doing too much for us and the government doesn't exactly have money to throw around -- do yourself a favor and check out National Geographic's Green Guide, which is also now available as an iPhone App. [From: USA Today]

Tags: ftc, government, green, green jobs, GreenJobs, regulations, top

Comments

2

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular