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Trump Admin Plans To Shut Down the Energy Star Program 132

According to the Washington Post (paywalled), the Trump administration plans to eliminate the Energy Star program -- a long-standing EPA initiative that has saved Americans over $500 billion in energy costs since 1992. "The organization states that the average American saves about $450 per year on energy bills by choosing appliances that have been Energy Star-certified," adds Engadget. From the report: The EPA hasn't said when this would go into effect and when consumers would stop seeing Energy Star certifications on home appliances. It's technically illegal for a presidential administration to end this program without Congress, but the same goes for many of Trump's pronouncements and executive orders. "Eliminating the Energy Star program would directly contradict this administration's promise to reduce household energy costs," Paula Glover, president of the nonprofit coalition Alliance to Save Energy, told CNN. "For just $32 million a year, Energy Star helps American families save over $40 billion in annual energy costs. That's a return of $350 for every federal dollar invested."

Trump Admin Plans To Shut Down the Energy Star Program

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  • by upuv ( 1201447 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2025 @08:17PM (#65357641) Journal

    You have to start wondering if Trump even knows what the purpose of government is for?

    Trump's administration promises reduced energy costs yet tries to kill a program that directly reduces energy costs. You have to wonder what behind closed doors was discussed that prompted this line of action. Who got in his ear and what agenda was behind it.

    OR

    Was it that he just didn't like the stickers on appliances?

    • by TheGratefulNet ( 143330 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2025 @08:21PM (#65357663)

      1) break government
      2) privatize what's left
      3) profit

      that's really it. they have zero care (the R party) for regular non-billionaire people. regular people need government. ultra rich are the ones who pay government to make laws that favor them.

      I guess its not clear to everyone so it will be stated again: the R party is the robber baron party and they are not here to HELP anyone but themselves.

    • by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2025 @08:28PM (#65357685)

      Ever since the Newt Gingrich era and the launch of Fox, the rise of Limbaugh the political project of the Republican Party has been to dismantle the government. Some of it's for money, some for power and for most it's just a dislike of liberals. I don't think they are even sure why anymore, just action for actions sake.

      They've been oppositional and so so mad for so long that they have no actual beliefs left. It's not freedom, it's not the Constitution, it's not a good economy, it's not free markets, it's not free speech, it's not being fiscal, it's not even socially conservative. What do they believe? I can't believe what they say because they keep supporting the opposites of all those!

      • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2025 @08:34PM (#65357707)
        That's what newt Gingrich called it. It was a plan to obstruct anything that was positive for the American people so that the American people would blame government for their problems. A form of economic terrorism. You can pretty easily find the Republicans talking about this, or you used to be able to honestly they've taken so much control of the media I'm not so sure that's true anymore. The little googling of the phrase contract with America and newt Gingrich and you'll find it.

        The Republican party has been sabotaging America for going on 40 years at least and then taking advantage of the chaos and confusion. It was a core part of project 2025. They call it shock and awe now.
        • by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2025 @09:05PM (#65357779)

          If there's a possible silver lining to this whole shitshow it's that the GOP as we've known it since Reagan could implode. They've put all their chips on Trump and if this does fail they have nobody left. His son's can't do it, JD can't do it. Musk can't do it even if they weasled him into eligibility. Nobody in the cabinet can do it. I was worried Ramaswamy would be the guy to carry it on but no worries there, he got the cut in classic fashion.

          Nobodies got the juice, without Trump they are juiceless.

          They gave up all their supposed principles for this guy and now they're getting everything they said they wanted. If that doesn't work there's nothing left for them besides a civil war from the worst aspects they've accrued.

      • by Z00L00K ( 682162 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2025 @10:34PM (#65357901) Homepage Journal

        They only believe in their own wallets and by making the government powerless they can get away with activities that on paper is illegal.

        Basically just make the US a banana republic.

      • It's basically "get the Hispanics out." That's what they get most excited about. I don't know why Florida keeps going red.
    • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2025 @08:32PM (#65357699)
      The purpose of government is to enrich Trump and Elon musk and Peter thiel. There is no other purpose of government.

      All other purposes went straight out the window when we elected a child rapist who steals classified documents to be president a second time.

      He didn't even lie to us this time. He told us he was going to do a nasty trade war it's just 77 million Americans were too lazy and stupid to figure out what that meant and 7 million Americans were just flat out denied the right to vote for Kamala Harris.
      • by Anonymous Coward

        Cheaters without any exception. There's solid evidence that Republican voter suppression prevented 7 million Democrats from voting for Kamala. That's a wide enough margin by far to have given Haris the win. If the Democrats had any backbone they'd be doing something about it right now but instead the dumbasses think they can get concessions out of the Republicans during budget negotiations.

        You need to put climate change aside right now and focus on voting rights. We've got pretty good data that clearly indi

      • by Powercntrl ( 458442 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @02:09AM (#65358155) Homepage

        He didn't even lie to us this time. He told us he was going to do a nasty trade war it's just 77 million Americans were too lazy and stupid to figure out what that meant and 7 million Americans were just flat out denied the right to vote for Kamala Harris.

        When your boat sinks because there's a big fucking hole in the hull, it does absolutely no good to blame the sinking on the asshole college kid who thought it would be hilarious to pour his beer into your boat as it began going under.

        Trump won because the majority of the electorate (out of those who made the effort to cast a vote) didn't feel any of Trump's previous transgressions disqualified him from holding office again. That's the real issue here. You keep talking about a woulda-coulda-shoulda scenario based on razor thin margins, and I'm here saying that in a sane society, a race against Trump shouldn't even be close in the first place, and when it is, that's the real problem.

    • by high_rolla ( 1068540 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2025 @09:43PM (#65357819) Homepage

      I believe that this falls into the same category as eliminating paper straws and disencouraging EV's.
      His wealthy oil donors need a market for the oil that they want to "drill baby drill".
      I think the general gist is to create an environment that needs more fossil fuels to create a market for his mates.

    • by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      Trump is actually a hippy:
      Live for today, forget about tomorrow. [youtube.com]

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Pentium100 ( 1240090 )

      Reducing energy costs should come from using cheaper fuels to produce the energy, reducing taxes on fuel, eliminating carbon tax and other crap that makes energy expensive.

    • Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)

      That's a great question, but it's not the one that Republicans are asking. The contemporary GOP is no longer a political party, with a cogent philosophy of government and policies crafted to implement that philosophy.

      It's a death cult.

      And if you think that's overstating things, then I invite you to consider this question: what, exactly, would they be doing differently if they weren't? Every action they're taking -- destroying the environment, shutting down medical research, bringing back coal, etc.,
      • that her economic team's plan for dealing with the deficit was to levy ginormous taxes on businesses that would be passed on to consumers only they would gaslight us that the taxes would come out of business profits.

        Sure shootin', I voted for Harris and we have ginormous taxes on businesses (the tariffs) that will be passed on to consumers, only we are assured they will come out of business profits.

      • "the Republicans are a death cult"
        I'm trying, but it's hard to see your speculation past the Democrats' actual pile of a MILLION dead babies PER YEAR.

    • Maybe he's just softening USA up for an invasion by Russia - can't see any other reason for being a russian asset puppet president
    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Bert64 ( 520050 )

      On the other hand, why is a certification body (likely with a lot of overhead) actually needed?
      Consumers these days are far more conscious of energy use, and information spreads much more quickly. Reviews will test the energy consumptions of products, and products which are inefficient will lose sales as a result.
      Detailed reviews are a lot more useful than some logo sticker on the packaging.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      If the end of Energy Star means that appliances will have lifetimes equivalent to appliances built before that program, then I'm all for it. An appliance that saves 3% on energy costs but fails unrepairably as soon as the warranty expires and has to be replaced doesn't save anything at all.

  • I don't remember seeing any that did not have that Certified sticker.

    • I don't remember seeing any that did not have that Certified sticker.

      That's good. It means that most appliance manufacturers were encouraged to get off their asses and design products that were at least somewhat more efficient.

    • It wasn't just the symbol, to get the star you also have give the energy use numbers for the consumer as well so they can compare. It was a good idea, make them compete on something everyone benefits from.

      • It made it easy to compare energy usage of AC's, fridge's and other high consumption devices. It often did not go the way you'd expect either. Sometimes the more expensive unit was less efficient. Pity it will be sacked by the clown.
      • Well, um.

        I don't think they should dismantle the program, but I recall when an audit investigation got an Energy-Star label for a "Gasoline-Powered Alarm Clock".

        https://gizmodo.com/a-fake-gas... [gizmodo.com]

        Hope they've actually improved things since then.

        • Yeah it's linked in there that they passed some new rules, don't know if it worked for the case of how those got through, I am sure the GAO had recommended changes.

          However I do like this story for the fact that audit was done by the GAO, which is and has been the actual "efficiency department" and this is a nice example of how it's supposed to work. Frankly I wish more rules and laws would go through a more openly iterative process like this.

      • I am skeptical but anyone but dedicated eco-people buy a toilet, or much of anything else, based on energy star rating.

        Price
        Looks
        Features

        Maybe a few other criteria. Energy star rating? Unless they're getting some govt "incentive", I bet 90% of people will not sacrifice price, looks or features for the sake of a better energy star rating.

        Hell, if the colour they like is 500% less efficient than a colour they don't like, 99% or more are going to go for the colour they like.

        Probably the same holds true if the

  • Just think of all the money they'll save not having to print all those Energy Star stickers. Winning!

  • With the dismantling of energy standards, poor people will have to pay even more for electricity. Perhaps this is a good way of extracting more money out of them. Perhaps, by increasing energy consumption, he can turn the "drill baby drill" fantasy into reality.

    The only thing to remember is that he is a fucking moron and everyone working for him is a fucking moron. They only do this shit to distract the media. There is no rationale behind any of this nonsense.
    • With the dismantling of energy standards, poor people will have to pay even more for electricity. mmmm Why?
      What is the Budget for this operation? I saw the supposed return, but without knowing what it cost how do you think it over?
      • by Pascoea ( 968200 )
        What the Energy Star program cost? Fuck's sake man, it's right in the summary: "For just $32 million a year, Energy Star helps American families save over $40 billion in annual energy costs. That's a return of $350 for every federal dollar invested." It's not like that statement had any ambiguity that you could be confused as to what information it was trying to construe.
        • by kenh ( 9056 )

          "For just $32 million a year, Energy Star helps American families save over $40 billion in annual energy costs."

          So when the program ends, manufacturers will dig out their early 1990's appliance designs and energy use will sky rocket?

          Or will manufacturers simply keep making the same energy-efficient appliances they have been for the last few years?

          I suspect they will not revert to the 30 year-old designs...

          • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

            by Anonymous Coward

            Because you're the typical MAGA that has no understanding of the world around him

            This part is $20 cheaper. It will make the product $20 cheaper.
            It's also less efficient and will cost the consumer who buys the product $100 extra per year in electricity costs.

            The consumer knows none of this but the $20 lower price
            Yes most consumers will be as ignorant as the MAGAs who are trying to eliminate this common sense energy star system.

          • by Pascoea ( 968200 )

            I suspect they will not revert to the 30 year-old designs

            No shit.

            Or will manufacturers simply keep making the same energy-efficient appliances they have been for the last few years?

            Of course they will. Then the next model will be some small percentage cheaper to build because energy efficiency is no longer a priority. And since the average idiot (myself included) doesn't have the foggiest clue what the annual energy savings of a 20 SEER AC unit vs a 14 SEER unit, and all they will see (since the manufacturers aren't going to put the energy guide stickers on there anymore) is that the 20 SEER unit is $X more expensive, they are going to pick the less energy efficiency one. Gi

          • So when the program ends, manufacturers will dig out their early 1990's appliance designs and energy use will sky rocket?

            Yes if it will save them 10 cents on an air conditioner.

          • I suspect they will not revert to the 30 year-old designs...

            Yeah, why revert to 30-year-old energy wasting designs when you can use all-new energy wasting designs?

            And if you think this isn't possible, I'd recommend watching this Technology Connections video [youtube.com] where he rants for a little over a half hour about cheap novelty mini-fridges. Or I'll save you from watching all that snarky talking head sarcasm and spoil it: those fridges are super cheap to manufacture, but waste mind-boggling amounts of electricity.

            Energy efficiency standards serve a purpose, because the av

        • I missed that and that is on me. I still think the program should be ended.
    • by Pascoea ( 968200 ) on Tuesday May 06, 2025 @08:57PM (#65357753)

      There is no rationale behind any of this nonsense.

      Sure there is. Trump has a well documented hard-on for low-flow shower heads for some fuckin reason. And if I were to make an educated guess based on his physique and known diet? He's probably blown up toilet a time or two and assumed the problem was with the energy-star guidance on water usage.

    • by kenh ( 9056 )

      With the dismantling of energy standards, poor people will have to pay even more for electricity.

      Why will the elimination of the Energy Star program make electricity more expensive? Will it make their appliances less efficient?

      Energy Star started in 1992, haven't consumers been educated about what to look for when buying appliances?

      • Noting also that Energy Star came into place under Bush (GHW).
      • Why will the elimination of the Energy Star program make electricity more expensive? Will it make their appliances less efficient?

        Yes, that's what it will do, make their new appliances less efficient by enabling device manufacturers to quote misleading energy consumption figures. Energy Star doesn't make the appliances more efficient, but it provides trustworthy assertions about appliance energy efficiency, based on careful testing.

        Energy Star started in 1992, haven't consumers been educated about what to look for when buying appliances?

        Absolutely. They've been educated to look for the Energy Star efficiency ratings.

  • Sorry sir, but that tattoo looks like an Energy Star symbol. We shall now assist you into the unmarked black van.
  • This is the same with car companies and more fuel efficient cars. President Turd tried to get car companies to abandon fuel efficiency efforts. But it turns out that consumers still want it regardless of want some orange turd says. So companies will continue making more efficient utilities.

    • This is the same with car companies and more fuel efficient cars. President Turd tried to get car companies to abandon fuel efficiency efforts. But it turns out that consumers still want it regardless of want some orange turd says. So companies will continue making more efficient utilities.

      Well, at least they'll continue marketing their devices as energy-efficient. They will probably quickly discover, however, that it's a lot cheaper and easier to put outstanding energy efficiency figures on the box and in the marketing materials than it is to actually make the devices efficient. Truth in advertising laws mean they probably can't just flat out lie about efficiency (well, assuming Trump doesn't shut down the FTC department tasked with enforcing truth in advertising laws -- or hasn't already d

  • Switch to Elon's method on X where people just pay for the Energy Star rating they want.

  • > "Eliminating the Energy Star program would
    > directly contradict this administration's promise to
    > reduce household energy costs"

    How do you tell when a MAGAt is lying? You know because its mouth is moving. Or at anyone with even a porous bullshit filter does. I can quantify what MAGA's bullshit has cost me just by opening up Quicken. I know Quicken can be something oi a beast. But do none of those people monitor their 401ks and IRAs? I'm starting to think half the country isn't even competent t

  • More and more goods are getting energy ratings. Because it is an effective way to motivate manufacturers to make efficient products that appeal to more prospective customers.

  • I'm surprised this is still a thing.

    I fondly recall the cool "Energy Star" logo displayed by my 486 and later motherboards when booting. Nice and yellow on my CRT. Later I read that it was a useless program because it was just a self certified thing, like the CE mark is here in the UK.

If computers take over (which seems to be their natural tendency), it will serve us right. -- Alistair Cooke

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