Conservative Blogs Take on EPA with Anti-Regulation Video Contests

HotAir.com, a conservative blog published by Salem Communications and NetRightNation have each launched a video contest searching for the video that best exhibits the unintended negative consequences of federal regulations.

Launched in response to a federal contest run by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that seeks homemade videos touting the benefits of federal regulations, the anti-regulation video contests seek to demonstrate “the danger and damage” that can be caused by federal regulation.

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EPA: 'Tell Us Why You Want to be Slaves'

Contest Seeks Videos Promoting Government Regulations

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson announces on Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 that her agency has decided that greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, threaten public health and the environment. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency is encouraging the public to create video advertisements that explain why federal regulations are "important to everyone."

The contest, which ends May 17, will award $2,500 to the makers of the video that best explains why federal regulations are good and how ordinary citizens can become more involved in making regulations. The videos must be posted on YouTube and can be no more than 60-90 seconds in length.

In the current contest, each video must include the slogan “Let your voice be heard,” and it must direct viewers to the government’s regulatory website www.Regulations.gov. The winning video will then be used by the entire federal government to promote the regulatory process and enhance the public’s participation in it.

The EPA is managing the contest, part of the government’s eRulemaking program, on behalf of the entire government.

As explained in the EPA press release announcing the contest, the purpose of the videos will be to remind the public that federal regulation touches “almost every aspect” of their lives and to promote how important those regulations are.

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Obama’s EPA Gave Energy Star Certification to ‘Gas-Powered Clock Radio’ and 14 Other Phony Products, GAO Says

One of the phony products certified by the EPA as an energy-efficient air cleaner was pictured on a phony Web site as nothing more than a space heater with a feather duster taped to it. (Photo from GAO report)

The Environmental Protection Agency certified that a “gas-powered clock radio” was an energy-efficient product under the government’s Energy Star program, despite the fact that neither the clock nor its manufacturer ever existed.

The clock and 14 other phony products were part of an investigation into the Energy Star program conducted by the Government Accountability Office, which submitted 20 fraudulent Energy Star applications from four fake companies. The EPA evaluated 16 of those products while the Department of Energy (DOE) evaluated four.

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