Main: President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough) Inset: A General Electric washing machine is shown. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart).
A conservative appeals court dealt a blow to President Joe Biden’s energy agenda Monday when it ruled that rolling back Trump-era loopholes for efficiency rules on dishwashers and washing machines had been done without enough consideration.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the Department of Energy (DOE) under Biden didn’t sufficiently consider the ramifications of its change to the former administration’s standards for energy efficiency.
In January 2022, the DOE reversed two rules passed under former President Donald Trump that exempted “quick” dishwashers, clothes washers and clothes dryers from efficiency regulations. Under the Trump-era rules, dishwashers that took less than 60 minutes and clothes washers and dryers that took less than 30 minutes were classified as separate “shortcycle” appliances and were exempted from efficiency regulations.
Efficiency regulations for lightbulbs and showerheads were also rolled back after Trump lamented, “You go into a new home, you turn on the faucet; no water comes out.”
“You turn on the shower — if you’re like me, you can’t wash your beautiful hair properly,” Trump commiserated, then bragged that he “got rid of” such inconvenient restrictions out of “common sense.”
When, under Biden, the DOE changed the previous rules, energy industry insiders described the move as a “Trump gimmick” that needed to be “undone.”
In response to the new rule, Louisiana led a group of states which included Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, to sue the DOE and argue that the standards were overly burdensome for home appliances.
A trio of Republican-appointed judges ruled for the 5th Circuit that the DOE must reconsider its “Repeal Rule.” The judges — Edith Brown Clement, Andrew Oldham and Cory Wilson — also took issue with the DOE’s attempt to use its authority to regulate water consumption. Writing for the panel, Oldham said Congress only authorized the DOE to regulate water consumption in showerheads, faucets, water closets, and urinals — and not in dishwashers or laundry machines.
Oldham noted in his 25-page ruling that adjusting energy rules was a priority of Biden’s from the start, but said the DOE ignored any negative consequences of repealing the prior rule — which included frustrating consumers with “high-efficiency,” but pragmatically inconvenient appliances.
Oldham said that in 2020, the DOE “appeared to agree” that modern dishwashers were so slow that consumers began simply hand-washing their dishes.
“And nothing wastes water and energy like handwashing,” Oldham remarked, noting that DOE estimates from 2011 said that washing dishes by hand uses 350% more water and 140% more energy than using a washing machine.
“Energy efficient” washers and dryers posed a similar problem, said the panel. Oldham said that the DOE was aware that consumers complained that they were forced to run multiple cycles to clean clothes in appliances that met stringent efficiency standards.
Oldham chastised the DOE for what he described as a lack of response to those concerns.
“What did DOE say in response?” Oldham asked, then answered, “Basically nothing: It acknowledged the concern and moved on. But bare acknowledgment is no substitute for reasoned consideration.”
The panel remanded the case to the DOE for further proceedings on the rule.
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