The Trump Administration’s recent budget outline proposes a 30+% cut in Environmental Protection Agency funding, which threatens to defund the ENERGY STAR program.
In a recent blog post, Steven Nadel, Executive Director the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), disagrees, stating, “ENERGY STAR has been very successful in its current form; why risk this success with dramatic changes that have a good chance of failing?”
In his post, Nadel points out that ENERGY STAR has produced a good return on investment, producing $400 billion since the program started, $34 billion in 2015 alone. All for a budget of $50 million per year. More than 5 billion products have been certified under ENERGY STAR since its inception.
He also argues that ENERGY STAR should not be spun off to the private sector. ENERGY STAR’s strength is its independent brand based on recognition and trust. The operating budget of $50 million per year is far too large for nonprofit organizations in the electrical industry. It also depends on the work of other Federal agencies.
Click here to read Nadel’s post. More here from the Natural Resources Defense Council.
In another post, ACEEE states the budget proposes to cut the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office by $516 million for 2017, about a quarter of its total budget.
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