President Joe Biden and his administration are facing backlash over new energy efficiency standards set to be placed on Americans’ water heaters, according to Fox News. Rep. Thomas Massie reportedly said that the new policies could raise prices for consumers.
Massie, an engineer trained at MIT, noted that the heaters the Department of Energy wants to mandate might be economical in the long-term but said that consumers should figure that out for themselves. He added that the long-term savings of a heat-pump water heater may not justify the upfront cost of the technology.
The department is looking at 2029 for the new regulation to go into effect. It claims that electric water heaters will save Americans around $200 billion and reduce carbon emissions by 500 million metric tonnes. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm called the current efficiency standards “outdated” and praised the proposal written by “industry partners and stakeholders.”
Climate activists jumped on the bandwagon and praised the proposal. Rheem and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
But the standards will reportedly cause more affordable options for water heaters to go off the market. Yet the Biden administration is also targeting other home appliances, such as dishwashers, furnaces, ceiling fans, microwaves, pool pumps, and showerheads.
Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox News that the plan proposed by these environmentalists is bad news for every household. He said that while climate activists want everything to be electric, the average consumer will be unable to afford its cost. He recommended giving consumers an option rather than mandating what they use.
The president wasted no time rescinding Donald Trump’s energy standards. Immediately after seizing office, Biden signed an executive order that tasked the Department of Energy with revising current policies in line with climate activism.
