Whether or not the principle of maximum power efficiency can be considered the fourth law of thermodynamics and the fourth principle of energetics is moot. Nevertheless, H.T. Odum also proposed a corollary of maximum power as the organisational principle of evolution, describing the evolution of microbiological systems, economic systems, planetary systems, and astrophysical systems. He called this corollary the maximum empower principle.  This was suggested because, as S.E. Jorgensen, M.T. Brown, H.T. Odum (2004) note,
C. Giannantoni may have confused matters when he wrote "The "Maximum Em-Power Principle" (Lotka–Odum) is generally considered the "Fourth Thermodynamic Principle" (mainly) because of its practical validity for a very wide class of physical and biological systems" (C. Giannantoni 2002, § 13, p. 155). Nevertheless,  Giannantoni has proposed the Maximum Em-Power Principle as the fourth principle of thermodynamics (Giannantoni 2006).
The preceding discussion is incomplete. The "maximum power" was discovered several times independently, in physics and engineering, see: Novikov (1957), El-Wakil (1962), and Curzon and Ahlborn (1975). The incorrectness of this analysis and design evolution conclusions was demonstrated by Gyftopoulos (2002).