By: The Editorial Board – wsj.com – May 12, 2023

The proposal requires manufacturers to slash water use by a third, limiting machines to 3.2 gallons per cycle, down from the current federal limit of five gallons. New appliances must simultaneously cut estimated annual energy usage by nearly 30%. Americans have learned the hard way that stricter efficiency rules on already efficient appliances translate into higher costs, inconvenience, and ultimately waste.

The Obama Administration’s dishwasher regulations raised the average price of a machine nearly $100, while producing a new norm of dirty forks and smelly glasses. When the Trump administration in 2018 proposed relaxing the rules, it received an avalanche of comments from Americans sick of overpaying for lousy equipment. It’s “ridiculous that dishwashers I had years ago worked better than the high-tech ones today,” one comment said.

Another lament was dishwashers that make a visit to the DMV feel speedy. Machines can only meet much higher efficiency standards by recirculating water in longer cycles, meaning run times of two or three hours. Yet if the dishes aren’t clean, owners run them again, undermining the argument about conservation. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that in 2020 nearly 20% of American households that owned a dishwasher never used it. That means they hand washed, which is as inefficient as it comes.

The Biden Administration wasted no time in rolling back the Trump-era rules, but now it’s going further. The Energy Department plan gives manufacturers only until 2027 to produce the miracle of costlier washers that do a worse job. There are also new regulations for electric motors used in manufacturing, as well as beverage vending machines.

In recent months the Energy Department has proposed or finalized punishing new standards for ovens, microwaves, refrigerators and laundry machines (get ready for even moldier clothing). These come on top of rules for furnaces, air conditioners, and lightbulbs. In December the White House bragged that it had taken more than 110 efficiency actions for “appliances and equipment,” as if frustrating the daily household experience of millions of Americans is somehow a point of pride.

The press release on dishwasher standards makes clear the intent is to reduce “carbon pollution” and combat the “climate crisis,” never mind that the trivial CO2 emissions savings from your ill-functioning Whirlpool are laughable next to the coal power plants China is building. At least progressives are being honest about their goal of controlling every detail of American life. And yes, your gas stove is next.

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Source: The Federal Dirty Dish Rule – WSJ