Global Courant 2023-05-13 03:41:07
The Biden administration this year has unleashed a flurry of regulations targeting popular home appliances as part of its climate and conservation agenda and has paved the way for additional action.
In recent months, the Department of Energy (DOE) has unveiled standards to make various appliances, including gas stoves, ovens, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners and dishwashers, more efficient, and experts have said doing so would degrade product quality and lead to higher prices .
“It’s spreading to more and more devices. It seems like almost everything that plugs in or sets on fire in the home is subject to a pending regulation or will soon be,” Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Fox News Digital in an interview.
“Consumers won’t want any of it. These rules are almost always bad for consumers for the simple reason that they limit consumer choice.
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Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm testifies before the House Appropriations Committee on March 23. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Anyone who wants to choose the more environmentally friendly versions of appliances is always free to do so. But these rules force everyone to make that choice, whether it makes sense or not,” Lieberman added. “Almost all of these appliance standards increase initial costs. It’s not clear you’ll ever recoup that in the form of energy or water savings.”
According to the current federal Unified Agenda, a government-wide, semi-annual list of regulatory agencies propose or finalize a plan within the next 12 months, the Biden administration will move forward with regulations affecting dozens of other appliances, including consumer ovens, pool pumps, battery chargers, ceiling fans and dehumidifiers.
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According to the DOE’s mission statement, the Unified Agenda emphasizes promoting “energy efficiency and conservation” as one of its five central pillars. Overall, Democrats and environmentalists have argued that electrification, banning natural gas hookups, and implementing strict energy efficiency standards could help accelerate emissions reductions.
President Biden speaks about the situation in Poland after meeting with G7 and European leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali on November 16, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“This administration is using every resource at our disposal to save Americans money while promoting innovations that reduce carbon pollution and fight the climate crisis,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said May 5 after the unveiling of rules cracking down on dishwashers , electric motors and beverages. vending machine.
“With today’s announcements, DOE is making rapid progress to strengthen outdated energy efficiency standards — as mandated by Congress and in coordination with our industry partners and stakeholders — and to support healthier, safer communities for the American people.”
In December, Granholm praised the administration’s 110 measures on energy efficiency standards by 2022 alone. The energy secretary added that the regulations strengthened US leadership in “the race to a clean energy future”.
In addition, the White House hosted an electrification summit that same month, where Granholm played a leading role. At the summit, government officials and environmental advocates discussed ways to boost electrification of buildings and transportation while reducing fossil fuel use across the economy.
White House Clean Energy Czar John Podesta speaks at the Electrification Summit on Dec. 14. (White House/video screenshot)
“We need to get these technologies into homes all over America, and we need to do it as quickly as possible,” John Podesta, White House czar for clean energy, said at the summit.
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On his first day in office in January 2021, President Biden signed an executive order requiring the Department of Energy to make “major revisions” to current device regulatory standards and standards set by the Trump administration. A month later, the agency listed more than a dozen energy-efficiency rules that affect appliances such as water heaters, cookware and light bulbs, which it would review.
“Their philosophy is energy efficiency at all costs or energy efficiency no matter the cost,” a former senior DOE official who served during the Trump administration previously told Fox News Digital. “That means, as a result of their efficiency standards, we will see more expensive devices. It’s as simple as that.
“The reality is we’re not talking about saving huge amounts of energy from these new regulations.”
Thomas Catenacci is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
