Biden Goodbye Gift in Middle of Winter Will Make Up to 40 Percent of New Water Heaters Illegal
Biden administration officials banned many new natural gas water heaters on Dec. 26 in a regulatory push weeks before President Joe Biden leaves office.
The new regulations on non-condensing gas water heaters would “save a significant amount of energy” and yield “significant environmental benefits,” including decreasing carbon dioxide emissions, according to the final rule.
In essence, the regulations would require new gas water heaters to “use about 13 percent less energy than today’s least efficient models,” per an analysis from the Appliance Standards Awareness Project.
The rules will enter into effect in 2029, while the standards for tankless models will enter into effect in late 2029 or early 2030, the organization noted.
The regulations were quietly published by the Department of Energy in the federal register without a news release, marking a departure from other recent regulations on household appliances, according to a report from The Washington Free Beacon.
The Department of Energy believes that the new rule will save consumers a mere $112 over the life of the product, the ASAP stated.
But the American Gas Association cautioned that a full 40 percent of consumers are directly affected by the rule and would see “a net cost increase from this rule, rather than even minimal savings.”
“DOE’s decision to ban an entire segment of instantaneous water heaters is deeply concerning and irresponsible,” Matthew Agen, chief counsel for the American Gas Association, said in a statement.
He contended, “The final rule is a violation of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act,” which bars the agency from “promulgating a standard that renders a product with a distinct performance characteristic unavailable.”
Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, was also not impressed by the regulations.
“It’s one more example of an appliance regulation that raises costs and reduces choices,” he told the Free Beacon.
“It bans an entire category of tankless water heaters and the ones that are most affordable.”
This move, as with the other regulations on appliances like gas stoves, not only comes mere days before President-elect Donald Trump retakes the Oval Office, but also after four years of elevated energy prices.
In the name of climate change, the Biden administration has indeed used unelected bureaucrats to crack down on basic appliances in the homes of everyday Americans for marginal benefits at best.
Forcing people to pay more in energy bills just to take showers reveals the broader mindset of the climate cult.
They have no reservations about pressuring people to skip washing themselves on their quest to purportedly manage the temperature of the planet.
Hopefully this regulation is swiftly canned once new leadership enters the White House.
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