One of Bush’s “light points”
Energy Star was created for the first time under the administration of President George HW Bush in 1992, the year of the earth summit in Rio, where nations around the world joined a framework convention to combat climate change.
This international treaty, at the request of Bush, was based on voluntary action rather than targets and schedules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Back home, the Energy Star program was also a way to encourage, but not strength, energy savings.
“It was sort of one of his thousand points of light,” said Nadel. “He did not want to do serious things about climate change, but a voluntary program to provide information and allow consumers to decide very well in his state of mind.”
At the beginning, focused only on personal computers, instructors and printers, Energy Star has spread over the years to cover more than 50 domestic devices, heating and air conditioning systems for refrigerators, washer and dryers and lighting. From 1995, the Energy Star certification extended to include houses and commercial buildings.
A congress controlled by the Republican wrote Energy Star in the law in a 2005 energy bill bill that President George W. Bush signed. It is not clear that the Trump administration can eliminate the Energy Star program, which is administered by the EPA and the Ministry of Energy, without a new act of congress.
In a report to mark the 30th anniversary of the Star energy in 2022, the Biden administration estimated that the program had reached 4 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas reductions by helping consumers make econetic choices. Nadel has said that the impact on the market is visible, because companies increase the number of products of products that meet Energy Star standards each time a new standard is adopted by EPA through a process of public opinion and comments.
The non -profit alliance to save energy has estimated that the Energy Star program costs government around $ 32 million a year, while saving families over $ 40 billion in annual energy costs.
Eliminating the program, Nadel said: “Do millions of people and a billion stupid”.
“It will not serve the American people”
The potential disappearance of energy energy began to circulate weeks ago. On March 20, a wide range of manufacturers and industry associations signed a letter to Zeldin, the pressing to maintain the Energy Star program.
