The Biden administration enraged Americans a couple of months ago with its threats to ban gas stoves. After public outrage, they finally declared that no one was coming for your gas stove. That was a lie, obviously. After new regulatory proposals came out in January, we learned that the Biden regime really did want to ban half of all gas stoves on the market.
That wasn’t enough for them, apparently. Now, Joe Biden also wants to wreck your refrigerator and your clothes washing machine with new “efficiency” standards.
Biden wants to force all future washing machines to use only half as much water. That might sound nice on paper to some people, but what does that accomplish? If you have to rewash your clothes a second time because your new “efficient” washer doesn’t get the job done, you end up using the same amount of water – if not more – than your old non-efficient washer. Your clothes will also be stinkier using the new standards, but that’s really the point as far as Biden is concerned.
The Energy Department proposed the new washing machine standards in February, stating that this is to “confront the global climate crisis.” This means that this has no basis in reality. Pause for just a second and try to imagine living in a universe where washing your clothes impacts the climate. Also notice that making your life easier or better in some way is not a goal of these rule proposals.
According to Travis Fisher from the Heritage Foundation:
“When you’re squeezing all you can out of the efficiency in terms of electricity use and water … you by definition either make the appliance worse or slower. Why are we so focused on the energy output, as opposed to if it’s helping me wash my clothes? That standard has kind of gone off the rails.”
The Energy Department estimates that transitioning the washing machine industry to comply with these new standards will cost approximately $700 million, which will have to be passed on to consumers. As washing machines become more expensive, fewer people will be able to afford these luxury appliances. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers notes that poor Americans will be disproportionately impacted by the rising costs of appliances.
Again, note that no one’s life is improved by these proposed rule changes.
Doing your laundry would become even more of a headache with these new machines. It will take much longer to do your laundry, you’ll be spending more on detergent, and when your laundry is done, it won’t be clean. Not to mention the price increase for the machine. The Energy Department notes in its proposal that “maintaining acceptable cleaning performance can be more difficult as energy and water levels are reduced.” Yeah, no kidding.
Team Biden is using regulatory actions like this to ruin everyone’s lives because they know there’s no hope of getting the new standards passed by Congress. Even Democrat lawmakers are unlikely to support the plan, because they understand how this scam works. Less efficiency means “less efficiency.”
The goal of Joe Biden’s regulatory nightmares is not to make your life better or easier. The goal is to make your life worse. That’s not a side effect of Joe Biden’s policy. It is Joe Biden’s policy.
Name a regulatory change that Joe Biden’s minions have made since coming into office that has made your life better. If you need a minute to Google it, go ahead. We already know the answer. Joe Biden’s objective in every single decision is to make Americans even more miserable.
