It's Not Just Gas Stoves: Biden Administration Announces Crackdown on Another Appliance
After eyeing gas stoves, the Biden administration is enacting new regulations on air conditioners.
The federal government announced new environmental standards on air conditioners on Thursday, according to Fox News.
The standards will distinguish between window units and portable air cleaners.
The rules for the latter will take effect in 2024, with standards for window units slated for 2026.
Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm claimed the new standards would improve nationwide energy efficiency in a statement.
“Today’s announcement builds on the historic actions President Biden took last year to strengthen outdated energy efficiency standards, which will help save on people’s energy bills and reduce our nation’s carbon footprint,” she said, according to the document.
“DOE will continue to engage with our public and private sector partners to finalize additional proposals like today’s that lower household energy costs and deliver the safer, healthier communities that every American deserves.”
The Department of Energy claims the standards will save consumers $25 billion over the next 30 years.
However, some critics of the policy point to the standards as an unreasonable burden on the public.
“What these mandates, what these standards do is enforce a level of efficiency that doesn’t make sense,” Ben Lieberman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute told Fox.
“And they compromise product quality. We’ve already seen this to an extent with [the] cost of clothes washer standards.”
A former Department of Energy official pointed to the standards as a misguided attempt to pass on higher appliance costs to consumers.
“Their philosophy is energy efficiency at all costs or energy efficiency no matter the cost,” the anonymous official said of the policy.”
“That means we are going to see, as a result of their efficiency standards, higher-priced appliances. It’s that simple.”
A spokeswoman for the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers expressed her objection to the new rules.
“We worked to advance the air cleaner rule within DOE, but we remain concerned that DOE is going too far on other products without any real savings to consumers, at a time when people are looking for relief,” Jill Notini said of the policy.
Air conditioners have long been a target of some environmentalist bureaucrats, who object to the carbon-emission signature of the household necessity.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration backed away from a plan that would ultimately ban gas stoves — amid public outcry regarding a policy that would make devices used in millions of American homes illegal.
The New York legislature is nearing a deal to ban the use of gas stoves in newly constructed homes, according to Politico.
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