by Kevin Killough
Just the News
New York City’s effort in the 1990s to regulate toilets and shower heads to cut down water usage ignited consumer outrage, even inspiring a 1996 Seinfeld television episode in which the character Kramer was so fed up with his apartment’s low-flow shower head that he purchased a high-flow head on the black market.
Three decades later, the Biden administration is leaving few appliances in the home untouched in its quest to regulate the amount of water and energy Americans use for their household chores.
The list of impacted appliances includes gas stoves, dishwashers, air conditioners, refrigerators, light bulbs, washing machines, microwaves, and furnaces, just to name a few. And the push back is growing, raising concerns that consumers will lose choices and pay more for future appliances, especially seniors on fixed incomes and low-income families…
Steve Milloy, a senior legal fellow with the Energy and Environmental Legal Institute and publisher of JunkScience.com, told Just The News that he has a friend who carries tools and a high-flow shower head with him when he travels.
“He’ll replace the hotel’s shower head so that he can take a decent shower,” Milloy said…
Milloy said that there’s no evidence those savings will be realized because the standards increase the purchase price and make the appliances worse. Not only do they have to be run longer to accomplish the same tasks, they break down more often.
“My mother had the same dishwasher for like 15 years. In 15 years, I’ve had three or four dishwashers,” Milloy said.
