The Trump government is getting ready to end Energy Star, according to the Washington Post. The announcement was made at a meeting of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Atmospheric Protection, during which the department was also eliminated.
The program began during the first Bush administration in 1992. This is the unit behind those yellow stickers on home appliances. The long-standing public-private partnership verifies energy-saving appliances and offers consumers rebates for purchasing them.
Data suggests that in the past 33 years, the program has saved Americans more than $500 billion in energy bills. It says that the average person can save about $450 on energy bills per year by choosing appliances that have the Energy Star certification.
The EPA has not said when this would go into effect or when consumers would stop seeing Energy Star certifications on home appliances. It's technically illegal for a president to end this program without Congress, but the same goes for many of Trump's pronouncements and executive orders.
"Eliminating the Energy Star program would directly contravene this administration's commitment to reduce residential energy expenditures," Paula Glover, president of the nonprofit coalition Alliance to Save Energy, told CNN. "For only $32 million a year, Energy Star supports American families in saving over $40 billion on energy use annually. This equates to a $350 return on investment for every dollar of federal funds used."
