Can someone please tell me what in Hades this is doing in a bill on the floor of the United States Senate?

IN GENERAL. – Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall conduct a study of :

(A) video game console energy use; and

(B) opportunities for energy savings regarding that energy use.

(2) INCLUSIONS. – The study under paragraph

(1) shall include an assessment of all power-consuming modes and media playback modes of video game consoles.

(b) ACTION ON COMPLETION. – On completion of the initial study under subsection (a), the Secretary shall determine, by regulation, using the criteria and procedures described in section 325(n)(2), whether to initiate a process for establishing minimum energy efficiency standards for video game console energy use.

This little snippet gives us a glimpse into the absurdity of our behemothic Administrative State – our 4th branch of government.

We have Vice Presidential hopeful, Sen. Rob Portman, to thank for the “Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2012.”  Its purpose is “To promote energy savings in residential and commercial buildings and industry, and for other purposes.”

The bill was introduced in May by Portman and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week by a vote of 18-3. On Thursday, Sen. Shaheen attempted to attach it to the failed “Bring Jobs Home” bill. Co-sponsors are Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA).

Recently, I wrote about Portman’s introduction of another environmental bill, called the “Global Conservation Act of 2012,” which is an Agenda-21 style global cooperation bill that would not only continue to grow the already massive Administrative State, but would drag us into a web of dubious international environmental causes.

Portman has a long history of environmental activism. In 2000, when he was in the House, he voted YES to implementing the UN Kyoto Protocol in reaction to global warming hysteria.

Here are some of the highlights of Portman’s current energy bill:

• Support the development and updating of national model building energy codes for residential and commercial buildings;

• Encourage and support the adoption by states, Indian tribes, and local governments of building energy codes that meet or exceed the national codes;

And of course, for every ‘green’ job that’s created to force help a business to retrofit its HVAC system, another business closes up shop because the expense is too great. And for every new government inspector that’s hired to enforce compliance, another business files for bankruptcy because they can’t afford the legal fees involved in fighting the government.

“The American public wants Congress to work in a bipartisan manner on policies that will spur economic growth and create jobs.  While there remains disagreement on how best to fix our supply side energy problem, there is consensus that efficiency is the cheapest and fastest way to start reducing demand for the energy we currently use.” [emphasis added]

“A new study has calculated that bipartisan energy-efficiency legislation from U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rob Portman (R-OH) could save consumers $60 billion by 2030, help businesses add 159,000 jobs to the economy and cut carbon-dioxide emissions by the equivalent of taking 21 million cars off the road.”

“Reducing demand for electricity would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by coal-fired power plants and other power sources by 29 million metric tons per year by 2020 and 108 million metric tons per year by 2030. Cutting CO2 by 108 million metric tons is the equivalent of keeping 21 million cars off the road, according to the U.S. EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.”

“[Obama] has been spending billions of dollars on alternative energy forms and touting its creation of “green” jobs. But it seems to be operating more on faith than on fact-based economic calculation. The “green” technologies are typically far too expensive to compete in the marketplace, and studies have shown that for every “green” job created there are actually more jobs destroyed. Unsurprisingly, this costly government investment has failed to create an economic boom.”

One more suggestion: If they’re dead set on someone who can bring Ohio, Rep. Jim Jordan will be considered an appropriate alternative.