TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody today led a 23-state coalition of attorneys general opposing the Biden administration’s latest energy policy, which they argue imposes harmful and costly standards on washing machines.
Attorney General Ashley Moody stated, “The Biden administration remains adamant on continuing to push radical, stringent and costly energy policies directly into your household in hopes that no one will notice—this time, weaseling into our laundry rooms. As a mom and your Attorney General, I am proud to fight on behalf of moms against white baseball pants and push back to keep these senseless policies out of American households.”
The action follows the release of a direct final rule regulating residential clothes washers. The attorneys general contend that this rule does not consider the economic impact on American consumers who may face increased appliance costs due to the new regulations. In a letter to United States Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, they requested the department abandon the rule or at least allow for notice and comment rulemaking before enacting the standards.
Several appliance companies and the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) have expressed significant concerns with the proposed standards. The coalition states, “AHAM’s comment stressed that the proposed rule would ‘eliminate consumer features, reduces choice, significantly increases cost, and/or negatively impacts product performance.’… Whirlpool...wrote separately to further emphasize that the proposed rule was not economically justified. Research conducted by Whirlpool showed a 25% increase in cost for consumers and a potential 31% loss in industry net present value, which could result in more than 8,000 American job losses.”
Although AHAM and some advocacy groups eventually consented to the new rule in a joint statement after reaching an impasse, attorneys general argue that this agreement resulted from administrative pressure and did not address issues raised by key stakeholders during the comment period. They assert that niche advocacy groups like Alliance for Water Efficiency and Natural Resource Defense Council do not represent everyday consumers' interests.
Furthermore, attorneys general argue that DOE cannot issue this rule without broad agreement across ideological lines. By statute, such rules must come from "interested persons that are fairly representative of relevant points of view." They note that while states like Massachusetts and California support DOE's proposal, many others strongly oppose it.
The coalition urges DOE to allow public comments on this regulation as it will "reach its way into homes." Florida's Attorney General Moody calls for reevaluation of the direct final rule considering all presented information.
Attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska New Hampshire Oklahoma South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia West Virginia joined Attorney General Moody in signing the letter.
Read the full letter here.
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