The Patriot Post® · The State Hits the Fan
You’d think the Greenies would be appreciative of folks who switch on their ceiling fans rather than crank up the AC during the hot summer months. You’d think they’d be pleased with the greater energy efficiency and the reduced fossil fuel use and the smaller carbon footprint that results.
You’d think.
But no. Joe Biden’s Department of Energy — the forgotten third agency that former Texas governor, presidential candidate, and future Trump Energy Secretary Rick Perry rightly vowed to eliminate back in 2011 — is proposing a new rule that would require ceiling fans to be more energy efficient. They say the new regulations would save American households on energy costs, but when? And how much? And at what cost to American manufacturers?
Welp, hold onto your hats. As Fox Business reports: “According to the Energy Department’s analysis, the new rules would save households about $39 over the lifespan of the new energy-efficient fan. However, the cost to manufacturers associated with the increased equipment will total $86.6 million per year.”
In short, the state is hitting the fan. As Fox Business continues:
The agency said standard residential ceiling fans complying with the proposed rule would cut consumers’ electricity costs to operate fans by roughly 40% compared to with the least-efficient fans currently on the market. The DOE estimates the purchase price of fans would increase by around $10 a piece if the new regulations are put in place, and says that additional cost would be covered by energy bill savings in about four years.
Of course, fan manufacturers and small businesses can’t simply absorb those costs. Instead, and understandably, they’ll pass those costs on to you, the end consumer. Just like they did when a Republican president, George H.W. Bush, decided that it’d be a good idea to make our toilets more water efficient. In that case, plunger manufacturers loved it, but we homeowners hated it.
A DOE mouthpiece tried to defend the pending fan rule changes on Friday, saying, “These proposed standards, which are required by Congress, wouldn’t take effect until 2028, would give Americans more energy efficient options to choose from, and would save hardworking taxpayers up to $369 million per year, while substantially reducing harmful air pollution — a crucial fact that some have conveniently failed to mention.”
So now we can add ceiling fans to the list of First World ingenuities being regulated and made more efficient (read: less effective) by the Left: washing machines, dishwashers, water heaters, gas stoves, and the list goes on.
Congressional Republicans, though, aren’t taking it lying down. In a letter from the House Committee on Small Business to former Dating Game contestant and current Energy Secretary Jenny Granholm, the GOP members wrote: “This rule would require numerous small business fan manufacturers to redesign their products and may put between 10 and 30 percent of small business ceiling fan manufacturers out of business. It appears that the Department of Energy (DOE) may not have properly considered small entities during this rulemaking process.”
Our sense is that they did indeed consider it. Right before they shrugged their shoulders and issued the rule change anyway. And their boss, Granholm, who in her current role makes for a compelling case study about the existence of the Peter Principle, is unlikely to be moved.
“It is important,” the GOP lawmakers continued, “for agencies to examine small businesses interests — which make up 99.9 percent of all businesses in the United States — when passing any new rule. America’s small businesses deserve to have their voices heard and considered.”
Not the Bee boiled it down thusly: “Bankrupting companies with draconian regulations because you can, and then trying to sell it to the little peasants you rule over as a $4-a-year windfall. That’s Bidenomics in a nutshell.”
First it was our cars, then it was our gas stoves, and now it’s our fans. Next thing ya know, they’ll be coming for our beer.
Oh, wait.