In 2022, the Department of Energy replaced Trump regulations governing dishwashers and clothes washers, replacing them with far stricter rules meant to reduce water and energy use. While the DOE claimed this would be environmentally and economically beneficial to consumers, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit disagreed.
Tightening rules
The fight began in 2021 when Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office instructing officials at the DOE to craft “major revisions” to existing regulations. In May 2022, the DOE released these revisions, which wouldn’t have come into effect until 2027.
Grand claims
The DOE claimed that its tighter rules would reduce dishwasher water use by more than 33% and energy use by 27%. It predicted these reductions would save American consumers $652 million in reduced utility bills.
The money issue
The DOE also deflected criticisms about higher upfront costs necessitated by the stricter regulations, arguing that the savings from reduced water and energy use would make up for additional upfront costs within a few years.
Conservative anger
Mark Brnovich, Arizona’s attorney general at the time, dismissed the new regulations as “unlawful, ineffective, and absolutely ridiculous. They should be hung out to dry as soon as possible.”
Lawsuit
Later, in 2022, eleven Republican-led states filed a lawsuit against the DOE. The lawsuit was supported by consumer and interest groups, including the Competitive Enterprise Group.
Victory
On Monday, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit blocked the DOE’s actions, arguing that they would actually reduce efficiency and questioning whether the department even had the legal authority to submit such rules.
Dubious legal claims
The court ruled that it was “unclear that DOE has statutory authority to regulate water use in dishwashers and clothes washers.” According to an attorney with the CEI, the court’s ruling could mean strict limits on the DOE’s ability to regulate water use for appliances that aren’t “showerheads, faucets, water closets, and urinals.”
Achieving the opposite
The appeals court also ruled that the DOE had “failed to adequately consider the negative consequences of the Repeal Rule, including the substitution effects of energy-and-water-wasting rewashing, prewashing, and handwashing.” Critics argued that people using more efficient washers have to run multiple cycles to clean their dishes or clothes properly, thus wasting more water and energy in the long run than if they just used older, more powerful washers.
Celebrations
“Water and energy use are just one factor when choosing an appliance to purchase,” a senior official in the Heartland Institute told Fox News, “and the government should not be deciding for individuals that it’s the primary one.”
Return to status quo
The ruling effectively means a return to Trump-era regulations, which were based on standards crafted by the CEI in 2018. These allow washers to use more water and energy to clean faster and more thoroughly.
Dubious allies
The CEI is included in climate watchdog DeSmog’s Climate Disinformation Database. The organization has received millions of dollars from oil companies and the Donors Trust, described by Mother Jones as the “dark money ATM of the conservative movement.”
Climate denial
Myron Ebell, a senior official in the CEI, was identified as “one of America’s most prominent climate-change skeptics” by the Financial Times. According to the organization’s website, it “questions global warming alarmism” and “opposes all government mandates and subsidies for conventional and alternative energy technologies.” In 2006, the group published a video that concluded, “Carbon dioxide: they call it pollution. We call it life.”
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