From a website for Spartan Digital Electronics, a company invented by the Government Accountability Office for a covert test of the Energy Star rating-approval and monitoring procedure. Of twenty imaginary products submitted, fifteen were approved, including the one below; in its March report, the GAO concluded that the program is “for the most part a self-certification program vulnerable to fraud and abuse.”

Spartan Digital Electronics is proud to announce its latest line of home electronics. The gas-powered Black Gold model clock radio is sleek, durable, easy on your electric bill, and surprisingly quiet. The newly Energy Star–qualified product…