Shortly after being sworn in, EPA head Lee Zeldin said the Biden Administration "weaponized" energy efficiency rules in a post announcing an overhaul of the WaterSense Program:
The Biden Admin weaponized energy efficiency rules to restrict consumer choice with home appliances.@POTUS' direction, @EPA is overhauling our WaterSense Program to help lower the cost of living and price of appliances for Americans.
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) February 14, 2025
Throughout this year, Zeldin has pushed back against what he calls the "Green New Scam" and focused on making America energy independent and a leader in energy production and innovation.
Now, lawmakers are poised for a battle on how best to reduce energy and appliance costs for American consumers, a cause near and dear to Zeldin.
Republicans Want to Slash Energy Saving Rules for Home Appliences
— NOfP-X (@NOfPPlus) September 12, 2025
Lawmakers from both Parties say they want to cut energy costs for homes and appliances, from refrigerators to air conditioners. But they’re proposing opposite approaches. https://t.co/pgT7Cha2Er
Here's more from the Wall Street Journal:
Republicans and Democrats both say they want to cut energy costs for homes and appliances, but they’re proposing opposite approaches.
While Republican representatives say the answer is to repeal overly restrictive net-zero emissions rules or bans on gas stoves, for example, Democratic lawmakers say more efficient energy standards actually save money.
Republicans at a Capitol Hill hearing on Tuesday of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce took issue with standards aimed at quelling natural gas brought in by the Energy Department under President Joe Biden. The department issued a rule to eliminate the use of fossil fuels for energy consumption in federal buildings by 2030, including natural gas furnaces, for example, which the Trump administration halted this year.
Rick Allen (R., Ga.) said the Biden administration’s green policy approach broadly limited consumer choice for appliances.
...
But Democratic lawmakers said Republicans don’t have consumers’ best interests at heart.
Kathy Castor (D., Fla.) said the Trump administration has “taken a hatchet to energy efficiency standards, which is so silly because energy efficiency saves people money.”
“It’s just not right for Republicans here in the Trump administration to serve the bottom lines of polluters and billionaires rather than hardworking Americans,” she said.
Do energy-efficient appliances save consumers money?
They do not.
Back in 1987, the Reagan administration signed the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act, and control of all household appliances, from dishwashers to shower heads, was put under federal control. In 1992, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, which gave big companies like Whirlpool major tax breaks for following the rules. This led to smaller appliance companies going out of business, driving up prices, and reducing quality. In fact, the lifespan of appliances cratered, dropping from 30 years to just ten, thanks to 'energy efficiency' standards.
Coupled with appliances that perform poorly, consumers are forced to rewash dishes, run a second laundry cycle, and send that broken fridge to the local dump 20 years sooner than a non-energy-efficient one.
Writing in Reason, Marc Oestreich says:
These regulations stack up like bad sequels—each more expensive, less effective, and harder to defend than the last. The low-flow toilet that takes two flushes, the washer that needs a second cycle, the showerhead that sputters like a garden hose with arthritis. Trump's latest cuts nick the beast. But it's still alive.
Last week's rollback swings the pendulum toward sanity—I hope. My $800 dishwasher still mocks me, but my fans, heater, and A.C. might dodge that fate. It's a small dent in decades of regulatory lunacy that's burdened makers, killed innovation, and trashed our kitchens.
At a hearing on Capitol Hill, Buddy Hughes, chairman of the board of the National Association of Home Builders told Congress, "While often well-intentioned, these requirements add thousands of dollars to the cost of a home, limit consumer freedom and take important design and lifestyle decisions out of the hands of American families."