Proponents of the federal Energy Star program for energy efficient appliances are promising President Trump a fight if he maintains his deep cuts to the program in his final budget in May.
“This is a destructive proposal that walks away from decades of bipartisan support for energy efficiency going back to the Reagan administration and beyond,” said Kateri Callahan, the president of the Alliance to Save Energy, a group that advocates for policies to boost efficiency. “We oppose these cuts in the strongest possible terms and will do everything we can to fight them in Congress.”Callahan organized a letter that was sent to lawmakers on Monday, asking them to stand against the Trump proposal that was outlined in the March 16 release of the budget blueprint. Trump’s budget proposal would scrap the Energy Star program altogether, which is managed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department. The letter included big names in energy efficiency and developing smart appliances, including 3M, Johnson Controls, Philips Lighting and Intel. It also included environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council.”This voluntary partnership program … helps businesses, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, homeowners, and consumers save money by investing in energy efficiency,” says the letter, sent to lawmakers in charge of appropriations. The proponents say the program has saved Americans $430 billion since it was created 25 years ago, while having an operating budget of $50 million per year.
The letter follows a campaign started on Twitter Monday in opposition to Trump’s proposed cuts to Energy Star, setting up the issue to be a major sticking point for Trump over the next several months as he makes his case before Congress to approve his cuts. The letter came as Energy Secretary Rick Perry continued Trump’s regulatory freeze for a number of regulations meant to improve the efficiency of appliances through the summer and fall. House Democrats lashed out at Perry’s continued freeze on Tuesday as violating rules governing how regulations are promulgated and finalized into law. In a letter, the group of lawmakers led by the top Democrat on the energy committee, Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, pressed White House Office of Management and Budget Director Michael Mulvaney not to approve the continued regulatory freeze.
Nevertheless, an official with one of the largest industry trade groups for heating and refrigeration technologies, the Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, praised the extension.
“While AHRI supports the process used by the Department of Energy to update rules on the test procedure for walk-in coolers/freezers and residential central air conditioners, today’s announcement of a delay in the enforcement date will give our member companies additional time to ensure a seamless implementation of the new test procedures for the benefit of their customers,” said Stephen Yurek, president and CEO of the group. Sixty members of the Yurek’s group, from Carrier to smaller mom and pop companies, plan to descend on Capitol Hill Wednesday as part of the group’s annual National Advocacy Conference. One of the big issues will be maintaining support for last year’s climate deal in Kigali, Rwanda, establishing a global phaseout of refrigerant chemicals identified as key contributors to global warming.
“They will be tackling a number of key issues to manufacturers including [Energy Department] regulatory reform, tax reform and the new [refrigerant] limitations to the Montreal Protocol agreed to in Kigali late last year,” the group said Tuesday.
