Where Has the Federal Trade Commission Gone?
In November 2007, the Federal Trade Commission made a splash of an announcement that they were reviewing their Green Guides to incorporate claims associated with Green Buildings and Green Products. The FTC has since held three public forums on the issue in the first half of 2008. Since then, the FTC has been silent on the issue without explanation.
Since the FTC announcement regarding the "GreenWashing" regulations, they have brought two actions to prohibit Green claims. One was to prevent a company from claiming that a textile made of Rayon was made of Bamboo and thus "Green. This action was brought against The M Group, Inc. d/b/a Bamboosa. (Rayon is made from plant fibers, which can include Bamboo. However, the FTC claimed that Rayon does not retain any Bamboo characteristics and is not biodegradable.). The second action also involves Rayon and claims of being biodegradable.
While these actions are certainly helpful to consumers, they have been brought and decided under existing Green Guide regulations. The FTC has now had over two years to update the Green Guides to include buildings, products and services. Not only would updated Green Guides protect consumers, it would also help advertisers understand the parameters of claims that they can make relating to Green issues, prevent developers from being hauled before the FTC for deceptive advertising claims and give developers benchmarks for being able to claim Green attributes.
