Earlier this year, tempers flared over the prospect of the Biden administration banning gas stoves. Many Americans were understandably concerned about federal government agencies taking away their ability to make basic choices about which appliances they can use to prepare family dinner.
Government officials and media outlets scrambled to assure us there were no plans to take away anyone’s household appliance options. But a sustained campaign from the federal Department of Energy proposes to do just that. On behalf of the people of Tennessee, my office is standing on the front lines to oppose that federal overreach.
The administration is looking to regulate popular and necessary models of everyday household appliances – cooktops, refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, clothes washers, you name it – out of existence. It will never be called a ban.
BIDEN OFFICIALS EXPLORED CRACKING DOWN ON GAS STOVES EARLIER THAN PREVIOUSLY KNOWN, EMAILS SHOW
Consumers will just notice the government touting "energy savings" while allowing fewer options, less functionality and higher prices for new household appliances. To justify these claims of savings, the government is relying on a spurious new "social cost of greenhouse gas" measure based on prognostications about events 30 to 300 years in the future.
Over the past months, Biden’s Department of Energy has used energy efficiency standards to outlaw an entire class of dishwashers and other appliances designed to perform especially well and has proposed rules that would drive out roughly 80% of currently available household refrigerator/freezers, 85% of clothes washers, and, yes, over half of household gas-burning cooktops.
In other words, the future of American household appliances will include fewer choices, higher prices and dirtier dishes.
Along with my state attorney general colleagues, I have opposed these moves at every turn, fighting for Americans’ simple freedom to choose their preferred appliances. Some people may not mind longer wash times or higher prices. Others may even seek out the most environmentally friendly options. But many Americans simply want affordable models that get the job done well.
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This fight on behalf of consumers is also a fight in defense of the rule of law. Congress gave the Department of Energy limited power to urge consumer energy savings and increase efficiency.
But the federal bureaucracy has decided to stretch that law to force radical changes in the American economy – changes that restrict consumer choice and increase costs for people already struggling to get by. This bureaucratic intrusion into daily life is not new, but Tennesseans, like most Americans, have had enough.
My office has filed formal comments opposing the new proposals for refrigerators/freezers and household clothes washers. We argue that the unlawful proposals ignore the effect on individuals and families, especially those with lower incomes.
We will do the same for the new dishwasher standards. Our action comes on top of existing litigation in which Tennessee, along with a coalition of other concerned AGs, is opposing other similar instances of regulatory overreach.
I look forward to continuing the fight.
