Federal Trade Commission Looks To Limit Misleading Environmental Claims Made By Advertisers

The FTC proposed revisions to the green guides, which advertisers use as guidance for interpreting and substantiating environmental marketing claims. The green guides are meant to keep advertisers from “greenwashing” consumers, or making misleading claims about the environmental benefits of a product. The FTC’s proposed changes would make the guides easier for advertisers to understand and use. They include new guidance on marketers’ use of product certifications and seals of approval, “renewable energy” claims, “renewable materials” claims, and “carbon offset” claims. The changes would also advise advertisers not use broad, blanket terms like “environmentally friendly” or “eco-friendly”, because such terms imply that a product has lofty, far-reaching benefits when said benefits are very difficult to prove or verify.

 

The green guides not only tell advertisers how to qualify their claims to avoid deceiving consumers, but also how consumers are likely to interpret particular claims. For example, if a product were marketed as degradable, compostable, or “free of” a particular substance, consumers would expect that the product decompose in a relatively short amount of time. The FTC’s consumer perception research also shows that consumers interpret claims about the use of “renewable materials” or “renewable energy” different than advertisers intend. The current green guides do not address the use of these claims, the FTC will recommend advertisers be specific about the materials and energy used on their products. The FTC will also advise marketers to disclose if the emission reductions that are being offset by a consumer’s purchase will not occur within two years if a product is marketed with any carbon offset claims.

 

Federal Government Makes Two Landmark Deals in Green Energy

It has been a busy week for the U.S. Department of the Interior. Earlier this week, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar approved two large-scale solar energy plants to be built on public land in California. The approval grants the U.S.-based companies access to almost 6,800 acres of public lands for 30 years. The two projects could produce up to 754 megawatts of renewable energy, or enough to power around 226,000–566,000 typical American homes. The projects will generate almost 1,000 new jobs.

 

Also this week, Salazar signed a 28-year lease with Cape Cod Associates, who will build an offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts in the Nantucket Sound; it will be the first offshore wind farm in the United States. The project is worth a total of $1 billion and has been awaiting regulatory approval for nine years. The “Cape Wind” wind farm will provide electricity to about 400,000 homes in the New England area and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 734,000 tons per year.

 

The federal government is beginning to make serious strides in building our future for renewable energy. Proposed legislation mandating higher fuel mileage for automobiles and increased tax incentives for renewable energy will propel the green sector even further. Obama even announced he would put solar panels on the White House, the first time since 1986.