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Energy Star program is being dismantled [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-05-10
ArsTechnica has a story up this weekend concerning the apparent demise of the Energy Star program, enacted over 30 years ago by then President George H. W. Bush in 1992. The program is voluntary and not mandated, but has been adopted nationwide by manufacturers to make their products stand out as money-saving over their lifetime by requiring less energy to use.
While the program was initially adopted by computer, monitor, and printer manufacturers, Energy Star eventually spread throughout most common household appliances, such as washers and dryers, refrigerators, microwaves, stoves, A/C units, and even light bulbs. After initially being introduced to items commonly bought by households, Energy Star eventually began appearing on homes and even commercial buildings.
This was all introduced as a voluntary program, and not a law, and it stayed that way throughout its existence. Companies have used the Energy Star program in advertising to show consumers that their product(s) would only cost X amount per month (or day or year) when used as expected. Those companies felt justified in charging maybe a bit more for their product because the cost over time would be less, both in the pocketbook and environmentally.
There is no reasonable excuse for axing it, but some insiders have their theories. For example:
Steven Nadel, executive director of the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, thinks Energy Star simply had the misfortune to be located inside EPA’s Climate Protection Partnership Division, and that Zeldin is eliminating offices with the word “climate” in its name.
One official goes further, stating:
“What I think we’re looking at here is an absolute distillation of the ideology of this administration, which is a thoroughgoing hostility to anything that the government does that helps people,” Goffman said. “If you want to destroy the relationship between the public and government, you’re going to target the Energy Star program.”
I’m on the boundaries of legal use here, so I’ll keep this last quote brief. The industries that actually use this program are particularly upset, saying:
“Eliminating it will not serve the American people,” they wrote. “In fact, because the Energy Star brand is highly recognizable to consumers, it is likely that, should the program be eliminated, it will be supplanted by initiatives that drive results counter to the goals of this administration such as decreased features, functionality, performance, or increased costs.”
I think I’ve hit a reasonable limit here on what I can share, so I urge readers interested to read the Ars Technica article linked in the first sentence of this brief blog entry. It’s not too long, but it makes it clear that there’s not a rhyme or reason to eliminating a voluntary program from the EPA entirely. There is virtually no cost-saving or anything remotely close to helping people.
It’s just this administration doing exactly what it does best: be insufferable assholes for the sake of being insufferable assholes.
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/10/2321651/-Energy-Star-program-is-being-dismantled?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web
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