Several events have occurred that will require further posts and analysis, but I want to keep my readers updated:
1. Decision in AHRI v. City of Albuquerque: My friend Steve Del Percio did a nice job of summarizing the opinion here. I will have an analysis of the opinion from my perspective on Friday.
2. FTC Publishes Draft Environmental Claim Guidelines: today the FTC issued draft revisions to the "Green Guide" which advises companies on false green advertising. These revisions have been in the works since 2007, and are designed to give companies more clarity on what environmental benefits they may claim. Their impact may be limited, because the guides themselves are unenforceable and the FTC has done very few enforcement actions for environmental claims as "false advertising." The proposed rule is available here, and a good EENews summary (subscription required) is available here.
3. The Department of Labor issued its official definition and means of measuring green jobs.
Green jobs are either:
Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources.
Jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources.
I find it particularly interesting that for advertising purposes, a generic statement about "benefiting the environment" is not acceptable, but that it is at the heart of the description of a "green job."
I will provide more analysis on each of these interesting topics over the next few days.
