The Department of Energy announced its “largest deregulatory effort in history.”

The Trump administration is attempting to wipe decades of efficiency standards off the books.

The US Energy Department says it’s rolling back long-standing efficiency standards for appliances, which advocates are calling a clear violation of the law. Continuing the Trump administration’s assault on federal water and energy efficiency programs, the department announced today what it’s calling its “largest deregulatory effort in history.”

The agency is trying to rollback 47 regulations it says are “burdensome and costly,” including more than a dozen efficiency standards for appliances and battery chargers.

The proposed rules target the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), which contains an anti-backsliding provision — and that the Trump administration is seemingly trying to bypass.

  • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de
    82·
    4 days ago

    Efficiency standards are a two-sided thing:

    • on the one hand, they reduce energy and water consumption, which saves on resources.
    • on the other hand, they increase engineering complexity and thus the cost of the machine.

    Now, the engineering complexity requires able engineers to design and build the machine, which creates a stronger demand for engineers. That would be good for blue-collar workers.