Bush Air Conditioner Standard Is Rejected (Clinton standard restored)

[papau]

Bush Air Conditioner Standard Is Rejected (Clinton standard restored)


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3622767,00.html

Bush Air Conditioner Standard Is Rejected

Wednesday January 14, 2004 9:31 AM
By H. JOSEF HEBERT Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal court rebuked the Bush administration and ordered it to restore Clinton administration efficiency standards that would make air conditioners use less energy and save consumers money on their electricity bills.

The court said Tuesday the Energy Department violated the intent of Congress when it rolled back the regulation that required a 30 percent increase in energy efficiency in all new home central air conditioners beginning in 2006.

The department had replaced the regulation with a more modest one that would require a 20 percent increase, arguing that to go further would make air conditioning units too expensive and even prevent poor people from buying air conditioners.

Environmentalists and energy efficiency experts rejected those claims. The Natural Resources Defense Council, consumer groups and attorneys general from 10 states filed a lawsuit to challenge the decision.

On Tuesday, the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York ruled that the so-called SEER-13 standard issued by the Clinton administration was valid and could not legally be lowered, even though the standard had not yet gone into effect. <snip>

The more stringent standard will save 14,500 megawatts during peak summer demand periods, enough to replace 50 power plants, said Andrew DeLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, a group advocating energy efficiency improvements.

[Kolesar]

1. This seems like a big story to me.

Reducing summer demand so that we don't need as many plants at peak capacity. 14,500 megawatts is about what all of Ontario was using during their energy crunch after the blackout.