EPA May Outsource Energy Star

Agency reconsiders killing the program amid industry backlash

YSN Staff

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is backing away from its pledge to eliminate Energy Star and instead is considering privatizing the popular conservation program.

In testimony this week before a House budget committee, EPA administer Lee Zeldin described it as an example of a program “that can be run outside of government,” and said “multiple entities” interested in administering Energy Star had contacted the agency after he announced plans to scuttle it.

Zeldin also received blowback from dozens of appliance manufacturers and trade associations. Citing EPA estimates, the consortium argued that the voluntary program has saved consumers a half-trillion dollars in energy costs since it was launched under President George H.W. Bush, and pointed to its value as a powerful marketing tool whose ubiquitous blue and white logo is recognized by 90% of Americans.

See: EPA to End Energy Star

But according to a report by NOTUS (News of the United States) and the Allbritton Journalism Institute, Zeldin questioned the validity of his own agency’s data during the budget hearing, and claimed Congress has no control over Energy Star since it wasn’t created by statute.

He added that hefty staffing costs were the reason for dropping the program, although the Department of Energy (DOE), EPA’s parent agency, has separately proposed rescinding decades of efficiency standards for multiple home appliances in a pushback against what it described as “Green New Deal fantasies.” The Energy Department’s 47-regulation rollback also included a provision for “Ending requirements for members of one sex to be able to try out for sports teams of the opposite sex.”

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