Environmental

Court Rules Obama-Era Energy Efficiency Standards Should Proceed


portable air conditioners
Portable air conditioners. The Department of Energy has estimated that over a 30-year period these standards will result in 99 million metric tons of reduced carbon dioxide emissions and save consumers and businesses $8.4 billion. (Your Best Digs/ Flickr CC by 3.0)

Trump administration dealt another blow in the courts

Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—February 16, 2018

By: Timothy Ballo

Yesterday, a federal court ruled that a suite of energy efficiency rules advanced during the Obama administration must move forward, despite a Trump administration attempt to scrap the rules.

A coalition of states and environmental groups had sued the Trump administration in June 2017 arguing that the Department of Energy was not permitted to abandon the rules. Judge Vince Girdhari Chhabria issued a nine-page ruling today.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, and Earthjustice, representing Sierra Club Consumer Federation of America, and Texas ROSE, joined attorneys general from the states of California, New York, Washington, Maine, Connecticut, Illinois, Vermont, Oregon, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania as well as the District of Columbia, City of New York, and California Energy Commission in suing the Trump administration over the four stalled  energy efficiency standards.

“These commonsense energy efficiency standards were inches away from being put into action and saving the American people billions on their electric bills. The only thing standing in the way of increased cost savings and decreased climate pollution was the Trump administration. Thankfully, the legal system has dealt yet another blow to the harmful and misguided Trump agenda, and protected the interests of the American people,” said Earthjustice Attorney Tim Ballo.

The rules that the Trump administration had sought to derail required increased energy efficiency standards for portable air conditioners, uninterruptible power supplies (the battery backup systems used to keep computers and other electronic devices running when the power goes out), air compressors used in a variety of commercial and industrial applications, and packaged boilers that heat one-fourth of the nation’s commercial space. Combined, the efficiency standards could save American consumers as much as $8 billion in energy bills, while avoiding 18 million metric tons of climate pollution over 30 years.

Read the legal document.

About Earthjustice

Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.

Source: www.earthjustice.org


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