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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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States Say Trump Let Energy-Efficiency Standards Get Way Out of Date

Counting dozens of outdated energy efficiency standards, 14 states plus New York City and Washington, D.C., accused the U.S. Department of Energy in a federal complaint Monday of frustrating their efforts to realize their climate change policy goals.

MANHATTAN (CN) — Counting dozens of outdated energy efficiency standards, 14 states plus New York City and Washington, D.C., accused the U.S. Department of Energy in a federal complaint Monday of frustrating their efforts to realize their climate change policy goals. 

The complaint flags some 25 of the 60 appliance categories that the agency oversees, saying the trend has continued through every year of the Trump administration.

Those categories cover home appliances like microwaves, dishwashers, air conditioners, and washers and dryers, as well as commercial refrigerators, freezers and water heaters. 

In addition to New York City and the District of Columbia, the 58-page complaint filed Monday in New York’s Southern District is led by the states New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

Just over a week earlier, environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club brought identical claims in the same district.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said Monday that the government’s failure to update energy standards means appliances continue to emit harmful air pollutants, some of which contribute to climate change. 

“This lawsuit seeks to enforce the law and compel prompt action to strengthen these critically important and impactful energy-saving measures,” James said in a statement. “My office will continue to force the Trump administration to fully meet its legal responsibilities to protect the health, environment, and well-being of all Americans.”  

Expending unnecessary energy costs consumers billions of dollars, the complaint argues. The DOE itself has estimated that, by the year 2030, energy efficiency standards adopted through 2016 will save a year’s worth of energy use and slash consumer utility bills by $2 trillion. 

The advocates who filed the October suit meanwhile noted that low-income communities suffer the most from regulatory delays in this sector, as they pay a greater percentage of their earnings toward energy.

“This is needlessly costing people billions of dollars, including low-income households already suffering a high energy burden, while significantly increasing the carbon and other pollution dirtying our air,” said Noah Horowitz, director of NRDC’s Center for Energy Efficiency Standards, in a statement. “We won’t let this stand.” 

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act sets initial minimum energy efficiency standards for more than 60 types of appliances. Together, those categories account for about 90% of home energy use, 60% of commercial building energy use, and 30% of energy used in industry, according to the complaint. 

Saying that energy officials have a statutory duty to periodically update efficiency guidelines, the states say that reviews are supposed to happen within six years of establishing standards for a consumer product.

Among other factors, regulators are supposed to weigh the latest technological possibilities against what products are affordable for households and businesses.

Years have passed without a review in many of the categories, according to the complaint, which says that an update on water heaters was due in 2016. 

Meeting the government’s own statutory deadlines and updating standards would save more than $580 billion in energy costs, and significantly reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, an important force driving climate change, the states argue.

Monday’s lawsuit follows an intent-to-sue letter mailed three months ago to DOE Secretary Dan Brouillette.

“For the better part of four years, the Trump administration has utilized a playbook of delay and deception to block energy efficiency standards that make household appliances like refrigerators and washing machines cheaper to run,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “The Trump administration is required by law to strengthen these standards — it shouldn’t need to be forced to do what’s best for the American people.”  

And while the administration of President-elect Joe Biden will soon take the reins, environmental advocates say that filing these suits now is important, no matter who holds the office of president.  

“The Trump administration’s abject failures on energy efficiency policy do not disappear when President-elect Biden is sworn in,” said attorney Jared Knicley with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The consumer, economic, and environmental benefits of updated standards will not be realized until the Biden Department of Energy completes those updates. Our lawsuit still intends to make sure that happens as soon as possible.”

Follow @NinaPullano
Categories / Consumers, Environment, Government

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