The Trump administration reportedly plans to shut down Energy Star, a program that has helped consumers find energy-efficient appliances since 1992.
“Trump has been on a bit of a culture war against appliances, and this is perhaps the most visible step yet in that regard,” said Tik Root, who covers climate solutions and economics for our editorial partner Grist.
5 questions with Tik Root
How has the Energy Star program worked since it started back in 1992?
“Energy Star sets specific energy efficiency standards that go beyond government minimums, and then to earn the certification, manufacturers could voluntarily participate and get that little sticker on their appliance that says, yes, they are X percent more efficient than the minimum standard.”
Has the Energy Star program delivered on its promise?
“By and large, most experts, bipartisan folks, agree that it has delivered on that. It saves about $40 billion a year in energy costs. It’s generally been considered a very successful private-public partnership. Today, the Energy Star label is almost as recognizable as the Nike swoosh or the Coca-Cola logo.
“The EPA says that 9 out of 10 households recognize it and that as many as 80% of people use it to help influence their purchase decisions.”
Why has Trump made this decision to possibly end the program?
“President Trump has complained for years about efficiency benchmarks and efficiency appliances. He said that the lower-flow showerheads make his showers five times longer; the LED light bulbs make him look orange; that efficient toilets take 10 or 15 flushes, and that dishwashers take more energy to use. These claims are largely not accurate, but veracity aside, Trump has been on a bit of a culture war against appliances, and this is perhaps the most visible step yet in that regard.”
What’s the practical impact of eliminating the labels?
“The short answer is no one knows exactly how this is going to be implemented, so it’s unclear, for example, whether products that already have the certification will get to keep the certification. What is clear is that new products probably won’t be certified, so over time, the Energy Star label will probably disappear.
“Folks I’m talking to say that like many of the Trump administration’s initiatives, this one could be challenged in court. There’s a law, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, that requires the Department of Energy and the EPA to promote Energy Star to preserve the integrity of the label and a few other criteria. And so we’ll see where this ultimately shakes up.”
If this ends, will companies stop making efficient appliances?
“I think the Energy Star label helped them sell those appliances. It helped people realize that they were buying the more efficient appliances. So I think part of it is going to be that people will walk into a store and not necessarily know why they’re paying more and maybe go for the lower cost option.
“I think the other somewhat-overlooked part of this is that a lot of federal, state and utility programs are benchmarked to Energy Star for rebates and other incentives. Like there’s a federal tax incentive for Energy Star homes, but what happens when there is no Energy Star to that tax incentive? So, I think there’s a lot of things to be worked out, but the short answer is it’s going to become pretty confusing, I think, for consumers, and I don’t think that will translate to more value-added products being sold for manufacturers.”
This interview was edited for clarity.
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Kalyani Saxena produced and edited this segment for broadcast with Michael Scotto. Scotto also adapted it for the web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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