Trump DOE slashes rules targeting stoves, ovens, clothes washers, dishwashers, and shower heads
Gone are rules banning a wide swath of gas stoves. Gone are the strict water standards governing dishwashers and shower heads. And gone is the government-wide effort to force electrification of the economy through appliance regulations. It is all part of a historic action the Trump administration announced Monday, reversing dozens of energy regulations, saving consumers more than $11 billion, and cutting more than 125,000 words from the United States Code of Regulations.
As part of the Department of Energy’s sweeping action unveiled Monday, it will rescind dozens of energy efficiency regulations targeting common household appliances that the Biden administration issued as part of its climate agenda. That includes rules restricting sales of certain types of gas-powered stoves and ovens in addition to microwaves, clothes washers, dishwashers, faucets, shower heads, and dehumidifiers.
“It should not be the government’s place to decide what kind of appliances you or your restaurants or your businesses can buy,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright told the Washington Free Beacon earlier this month. “Everybody wants clean air and wants to lower their energy costs and run their factories good as they can. The big hand of government doesn’t actually help that process at all.”
“We will look for every way we can to protect freedom of the American worker and pursue President Trump’s agenda, get rid of the nonsense, bring back common sense, make life more affordable, and opportunities greater,” he added, noting that previous crackdowns on gas-powered appliances were elitist and illogical.
The action is the latest blow the Trump administration has delivered to former president Joe Biden’s climate legacy. It is also the latest sign that the current administration will prioritize an approach to energy efficiency, which Congress mandates the Department of Energy to promote through periodic rulemakings, that prioritizes consumer choice and free markets over greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
Led by then-energy secretary Jennifer Granholm, the Biden administration issued dozens of appliance regulations and pushed a broader electrification strategy, pushing consumers to shift away from reliance on natural gas. Granholm remarked during a White House electrification summit in 2022 that the United States must “electrify and create efficiencies both within our homes and across the industrial sector.”
When crafting such rules, Granholm regularly consulted environmental activist organizations, which were largely funded by progressive grantmaking nonprofits, such as the Bloomberg Family Foundation, the TomKat Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Schmidt Family Foundation.
“This is very good news for consumer freedom,” Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told the Free Beacon. “We learned from the gas stove episode of 2023 that the American people don’t want federal regulators dictating their choices, whether that’s the kitchen, the laundry room, or whatever room has your water heater or furnace. They want to be able to decide for themselves.”
“And this takes some important steps in that regard,” Lieberman continued. “I think this also undoes a lot of climate-related appliance regulations that further take the decisions away from consumers and that pursue an environmental agenda.”
In one of its most controversial appliance regulations, in February 2023, the Biden Department of Energy unveiled regulations that would have banned a large swath of cheaper, but less-efficient gas stoves currently on the market. The move sparked an immediate uproar and forced Granholm to admit she owned a gas stove. Granholm, however, still finalized the regulations and a slate of others following the episode.
In addition to reversing Biden-era appliance rules, the Department of Energy on Monday will also streamline regulations related to natural gas imports and exports, approvals for electric energy exports, and procedures for purchasing Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil stocks. It will also rescind regulations surrounding minority business loans, end requirements allowing men to play in women’s sports, and delay compliance dates for the “clean energy federal building rule.”
“While it would normally take years for the Department of Energy to remove just a handful of regulations, the Trump Administration assembled a team working around the clock to reduce costs and deliver results for the American people in just over 110 days,” Wright said in a statement.
“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we are bringing back common sense—slashing regulations meant to appease Green New Deal fantasies, restrict consumer choice and increase costs for the American people. Promises made, promises kept.”
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