Free Republic

President Joe Biden’s climate change-obsessed Department of Energy (DOE) was wrong when it reversed Trump-era rules making dishwashers and laundry machines more efficient for Americans, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday. A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the agency acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner when it repealed laundry machine and dishwasher rules designed to cut down on wash times. The order, penned by Judge Andrew Oldham, also notes that “it is unclear that the DOE has any statutory authority to regulate water use in dishwashers and clothes washers.”

2023 was an unusually bad year for appliance regulations, and future years won’t be much better unless Congress finds a way to stop the nonsense. It all started last January when Richard Trumka Jr., a commissioner on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), announced an investigation into the safety of natural gas stoves and boasted that a ban on them was "a real possibility." That sparked a powerful consumer backlash, followed up by strong denials from the Biden administration that any such ban was in the works. But CPSC has still gone ahead with its inquiry, and in February, team...

The Biden administration’s War on Modernity is death by a thousand regulations. It’s no secret that the Biden admin wants to ditch gas stoves as well as impose harsh regulations on washing machines, dishwashers, water heaters, refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and anything else they can think of under the guise of “saving the planet” from climate change. These regulations make things more expensive and people either shell out more of their hard-earned dollars for a basic necessity or do without because the appliance has been priced out of reach. It’s also a direct attack on the freedom of the consumer...

When Cincinnati firefighter Ed Wallace bought a high efficiency Whirlpool washing machine, he came to regret the decision almost immediately. The machine used less water—not enough to clean Wallace's work clothes—and his colleagues at the firehouse quickly took notice. "I walked past my guys and they say, 'Dude, you stink!'" Wallace said. "I smelled myself, and yeah, that's me stinking." Now, President Joe Biden is pushing regulations that could force Wallace's stinky situation upon millions of Americans. Biden's Energy Department last month proposed new efficiency standards for washing machines that would require new appliances to use considerably less water, all...

President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on imported washing machines has had an odd effect: It raised prices on washing machines, as expected, but also drove up the cost of clothes dryers, which rose by $92 last year. What appears to have happened, according to new research from economists at the University of Chicago and the Federal Reserve, is a case study in how a measure meant to help domestic factory workers can rebound on American consumers, creating unexpected costs and leaving shoppers with a sky-high bill for every factory job created. Research to be released on Monday by the...

That didn't take long. LG Electronics told retailers on Wednesday that its laundry machines will get more expensive due to a tariff announced by the Trump administration earlier this week. "As a result of the trade situation, we will be initiating pricing actions, which will be sent under separate cover shortly," LG executive Thomas Yoon said in a memo obtained by CNNMoney. The note was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. ****** LG said a new $250 million washer factory that's being built in Clarksville, Tennessee should help ease some pressure, since those washers won't be subject to the...

Samsung and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission are recalling 2.8 million of Samsung's top-loading washing machines after reports that 730 units exploded, resulting in nine injuries, the CPSC announced today on “Good Morning America.” “We’re talking about ... a very serious hazard of the top of these washing machines completely blowing off,” Elliot Kaye, the chairman of the CPSC, told “GMA” Investigates in an interview that aired Friday on “GMA.” “It is a lot of reports.” Kaye said the tops of the affected units weren’t “secured enough based on a design failure. And the top just completely blows off.”...

You can chart the course of human progress in terms of how clean our clothing is. In early times people used animal skins, had no change of clothing, and had no soap. By Adam Smith's day soap had improved in quality, was produced industrially, and was becoming available to the common man. In fact, the Industrial Revolution, which is usually discussed in terms of iron, steam, and factories, was actually all about bringing products like soap and underwear — previously only available to the rich — to the common peasants. Only after WWII did electric automatic clothes washers displace hand-cranked...

CEI's 'Send Your Underwear to the Undersecretary' Campaign Goes *Virtual* Faster Relief for People Tired of 'Regulatory Wedgie' by CEI Staff June 18, 2007 Washington, D.C., June 18, 2007— CEI’s campaign against the U.S. Department of Energy’s disastrous washing machine efficiency rules has gone virtual. Rather than physically mailing underwear to the Undersecretary of Energy, the public can now email “virtual underwear” from CEI’s website with a few mouse clicks. This makes it far easier for those fed up with poor-performing washers to register their protests with the agency. This is the latest salvo in CEI’s campaign against the DoE...

<p>Residential washing machines sold in California must use significantly less water within five years under legislation signed Sunday by Gov. Gray Davis.</p> <p>The requirements could make washing machines more expensive for consumers in the short run, but proponents said owners would make up initial costs over time through lower monthly water and power bills.</p>