By Jeff Brady
December 21, 2023
Source: NPR
Photo Source: Unsplash,
From ceiling fans to refrigerators, the Department of Energy is updating appliance efficiency standards that would affect millions of consumers.
The Biden administration's goal is to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gasses and save Americans billions of dollars a year in utility costs. But the administration is facing pushback from the natural gas industry, because some new standards would affect gas appliances. Conservative politicians and media have taken notice of the measures, too, and they've now made unsexy, technical appliance standards a flashpoint in the country's culture war.
The resistance to energy efficiency moves comes from the top of the Republican Party. Former President Donald Trump has a history of rolling back efficiency standards and likely would again if elected next year. Trump has repeatedly claimed that newer dishwashers don't work as well as older, less efficient ones.
"I had people saying they'd wash their dishes and they'd press the button five times, so in the end they're probably wasting more water than if they did it once," Trump said at a 2020 rally.
His claims are incorrect. Research examining the quality of appliances subject to efficiency standards finds "that prices declined while quality and consumer welfare increased, especially when standards become more stringent." Extensive testing on appliances at Consumer Reports bears that out.
"Making appliances more energy efficient does not affect their durability and quality. All of that... rests on the hands of the manufacturer and their designers," says Shanika Whitehurst, associate director for product sustainability, research and testing at Consumer Reports.
It's unclear why some conservatives have focused on energy efficiency as a target. But many of their assertions feed into broader narratives about alleged government overreach. They argue, for example, that efficiency standards limit consumer choices by removing older, less efficient products from the marketplace.
"Sure am happy the Department of Energy is out here making sure that we can all save money because we're too dumb to figure out how to do it ourselves," Rep. Scott Perry, R-PA, said at a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing last July.
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