Today CPR releases a new briefing paper explaining how states can spearhead improving energy efficiency standards for home appliances. The paper, States Can Lead the Way to Improved Appliance Energy Efficiency Standards, draws on ideas discussed in Alexandra B. Klass’s article State Standards for Nationwide Products Revisited: Federalism, Green Building Codes, and Appliance Efficiency Standards. I co-authored today’s paper with CPR Member Scholars Klass and Lesley McAllister.
Traditionally a strongly bipartisan issue, support for energy efficiency has been eroded by anti-regulation sentiments. Without strong political support or adequate resources, the Department of Energy (DOE) has struggled to promulgate adequate efficiency standards. Regulatory efforts at the federal level have come up short, resulting in weak and delayed standards, or often no standards at all. In the absence of a dramatic shift in political will at the federal level, the most effective way to bring about improved efficiency standards and realize their attendant benefits will be to establish a system that retains strong federal standards while allowing states to set alternative, more stringent standards.
Such a system could be implemented by amending DOE’s existing regulations. First, DOE should clarify the existing state waiver process and respond more favorably to such requests so that states can successfully obtain waivers granting them permission to adopt improved appliance efficiency standards. Second, DOE should amend its regulations to allow states to adopt another state’s approved standard, thereby making improved standards available nationwide. Finally, DOE should ensure that there is only one standard in addition to the federal baseline for an appliance at any time.
Allowing states to take the lead in improving appliance energy efficiency standards will benefit consumers, manufacturers, and the environment. Consumers will save money on their electric bills and enjoy updated appliances at a lower cost as a result of improved standards. Manufacturers stand to gain from increased sales and lowered production costs. The environment will benefit from reduced natural resource consumption and lowered greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, these benefits are not currently realized due to numerous delays at both the political and federal agency levels. These delays will result in at least $28 billion in unrealized energy savings by 2030. To avoid this result, DOE can work with states to allow them to take the lead in achieving meaningful efficiency gains without creating a 50-state patchwork of regulation for manufacturers.
Showing 2,829 results
| August 24, 2012
Today CPR releases a new briefing paper explaining how states can spearhead improving energy efficiency standards for home appliances. The paper, States Can Lead the Way to Improved Appliance Energy Efficiency Standards, draws on ideas discussed in Alexandra B. Klass’s article State Standards for Nationwide Products Revisited: Federalism, Green Building Codes, and Appliance Efficiency Standards. […]
Frank Ackerman | August 23, 2012
Cross-posted from Triple Crisis. Can we protect the earth’s climate without talking about it – by pursuing more popular policy goals such as cheap, clean energy, which also happen to reduce carbon emissions? It doesn’t make sense for the long run, and won’t carry us through the necessary decades of technological change and redirected investment. […]
Joseph Tomain | August 23, 2012
Based on what the Romney-Ryan team has said so far on energy, I expected their energy plan today would be something like the National Energy Policy of 2001, delivered by Vice President Dick Cheney four months after George W. Bush’s inauguration. I thought that their energy plan would simply be a retread of old thinking, […]
Thomas McGarity | August 22, 2012
Yesterday afternoon, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a long-awaited decision on the validity of EPA’s “Cross-State” rule governing interstate transport of pollution. The EPA has been trying for more than two decades to come up with a solution to the vexing interstate transport problem, but every attempt has failed. The court has now […]
Joseph Tomain | August 21, 2012
Earlier this month, the Senate Finance Committee reported out a bill that would extend production tax credits for the wind industry, in addition to providing other tax benefits for the construction of new energy-efficient homes, energy efficient appliances, and biofuels. These are all positive efforts that serve as investments in the necessary transition to a […]
Nicholas Vidargas | August 16, 2012
Around the country, a disproportionate number of facilities and operations that discharge sewage, process hazardous waste, and emit toxic air pollution are located in areas with high poverty rates or large minority populations. Environmental regulation that has reduced overall pollution has often failed to do so equitably, leaving (or in some cases even increasing) environmental […]
Ben Somberg | August 15, 2012
Last week, President Obama’s campaign earned green criticism for airing a radio ad in Ohio that portrayed the President as pro-coal, and Mitt Romney as anti-coal. The ad asserted that Obama has been good for the coal industry, and then said: And Mitt Romney? He’s attacking the president’s record on coal. But here’s what Romney […]
Richard Murphy | August 7, 2012
Governor Romney claims that burdensome regulations are an immense but hidden tax holding back the American economy. As proof for this proposition, he cites the study on regulatory costs sponsored by the Small Business Administration – a study that’s been debunked by a CPR white paper, the Congressional Research Service, and others. Romney lays out some solutions […]
Matt Shudtz | August 6, 2012
Last month, EPA published for public comment a draft “framework” for human health risk assessment. It is the culmination of years of work done by EPA staff who are part of the Risk Assessment Forum, a select team of experts from various offices throughout the agency whose efforts were overseen by the Office of the […]