It wasn’t that long ago when improved efficiency standards were a relatively bipartisan priority. It was the Bush/Cheney administration, for example, that embraced new standards on light bulbs. It was the Bush/Quayle administration that adopted tougher fuel economy standards for cars.
But as Republican politics has radicalized, GOP officials have come to see efficiency standards as some kind of left-wing scourge that must be resisted at all costs.
Earlier this year, for example, the Biden administration’s Energy Department proposed new energy standards for household washing machines and refrigerators — existing rules haven’t been updated in over a decade — that would reduce emissions and save consumers money. Soon after, Donald Trump told supporters that “they” are determined to “take away your washing machines.”
Whether the former president realized that officials aren’t actually trying to take away the appliances remains unclear.
But few Republicans are as worked up about this as Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who not only wants the public to believe the Biden administration is on some kind of anti-washing-machine crusade, the far-right senator also apparently sees a larger plot unfolding.
“First, the Left comes for gas stoves and washing machines,” the Tennessean wrote online yesterday. “Now, the Biden administration wants to take away your water heater. What else will they take in the name of their socialist agenda?”
Of course, whether the senator understands this or not, no one is “coming for” anyone’s household appliances; the Biden administration doesn’t have a socialist agenda; and there’s an important difference between improving water heaters’ efficiency and taking the heaters away. The Washington Post reported late last week:
The Biden administration proposed a rule Friday that would make new water heaters more efficient by setting standards that encourage companies to update roughly 80-year-old technology, the biggest step yet in a series of appliance regulations aimed at reducing Americans’ utility costs and greenhouse gas emissions. The Department of Energy said its proposal would save consumers $11.4 billion on their energy and water bills each year.
A completely incredulous Blackburn appeared on Fox News yesterday, apparently outraged by the idea that officials are “trying to change the standards … in order to have people buy more efficient appliances.” Okay, but why is that scandalous? Officials from both parties have embraced improved standards for decades, not only to improve environmental conditions, but also to save American consumers money. When it comes to water heaters, I can understand why manufacturers might howl about the change, but the Post’s report added, “Manufacturers will have to invest in making compliant water heaters, but many have expected to do so for more than a decade, said Andrew deLaski, the executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project.” The old technology many U.S. electric water heaters use was first widely commercialized in the 1940s, making an update overdue, deLaski said. “This is an example of how standards can drive manufacturers’ investments in innovative technology that saves consumers money and also protects the planet,” he said.
This isn’t socialism. Biden isn’t coming to your house with a wrench and a truck to take away your appliances. None of this even constitutes a new approach to energy policymaking. Blackburn just doesn’t seem to have any idea what she’s talking about.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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