The Trump administration announced Wednesday it would be rolling back a Bush-era requirement set to go into effect next year mandating more energy-efficient lightbulbs in the market.
The Department of Energy said in their announcement the new lightbulb standards were “not consistent with the best reading of the statute.”
The regulations, which were set to go into effect in January 2020 was formulated during the Bush administration and implemented under the Obama administration to gradually remove more energy-inefficient halogen and incandescent bulbs from the market and replace them with LED versions, which NPR reported use one-fifth of the energy to produce similar levels of illumination.
Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, said the rollback will leave Americans with higher energy bills and more waste to throw away.
“The Trump administration is trying to protect technology that was first invented in the 1800s. It’s like trying to protect the horse and buggy from the automobile technology,” he said, according to NPR. “It makes no sense to go back to technology from two centuries ago, when we have new technology today which saves consumers money and helps protect the environment by reducing the amount of power that we need.”
Mr. deLaski accused the Trump administration of putting company profits over advancing and improving lightbulb efficiency.
“Every time a consumer shifts to an LED, that lightbulb is going to last 10 years or longer. So the lightbulb manufacturers are trying to save technology that keeps the consumer coming back to buy another bulb every year, but still wastes a lot of energy,” he said.
The reversal will likely face a legal battle as many environmental groups have threatened to sue the federal government.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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