Volunteer State News

Nashville- Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led two coalitions of states in filing public comments in response to the federal government’s efforts to micro-manage the lives of Americans. The Department of Energy’s (DOE) newest rules set efficiency standards first for refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers, and the second for clothes washers.

In both public comments, the coalition of state attorneys general explain that DOE is relying on flawed IWG estimates to inform its position, and there is no reason to conclude that the Proposed Standards’ effect on greenhouse gases will have a measurable economic impact. The coalition also notes the Proposed Standards would remake the regulated market and dominate the field, in a show of federal overreach.

The public comments also cite the negative economic effects the Proposed Standards will have on consumers, particularly low-income individuals, writing, “By increasing the costs families face to purchase a common, integral appliance, the Proposed Standards will affect every family’s budget…forcing lower-income families to make difficult financial decisions.”

President Biden’s Administration has previously attempted to dictate the ovens and stoves with which Americans can cook, in addition to the dishwashers they use to clean their dishes. General Skrmetti led a multi-state coalition opposing that overreach regulation as well.

General Skrmetti’s public comment on the refrigerator, refrigerator-freezers, and freezers regulation was joined by state attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

Read the refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers, and freezer public comment in its entirety here.

General Skrmetti’s public comment on the clothing washers regulation was joined by state attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Read the clothing washers public comment in its entirety here.

Original source can be found here