Overdue Energy Efficiency Standards Costing U.S. $$ Billions

President Obama says?addressing climate change is smart economic policy as well as?a moral imperative, but his administration keeps delaying stronger appliance and equipment energy-efficiency standards.

These standards are?among the most successful ways to quickly?cut energy consumption and contribute to economic growth. They create hundreds of thousands of jobs and save billions of dollars on?utility bills across the economy.

The Obama administration has missed deadlines for completing eight new appliance, lighting, and equipment energy efficiency standards. Because each month of delay also delays the effective date of any new standard, millions of additional inefficient products will be sold and remain in use, wasting energy for many years. This energy waste will cost consumers billions of dollars and result in millions of tons of long-lasting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that should have been avoided.

Eight standards are currently?held up,?costing individuals?and businesses?$3.7 billion and?40 million metric tons of excess carbon?emissions, according to?the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP) and American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

In fact, every?month of delay adds another $300 million in lost savings and another 4.4 million metrics tons?of carbon emissions, equivalent to burning?19,000 rail cars of coal.

Raising efficiency standards also?spurs innovation as manufacturers compete to introduce the most advanced equipment at the lowest?cost.?Delays in issuing standards compounds over time because it takes a long time for manufacturers to develop new products.

The delays to date will cost consumers and businesses about $3.7 billion in lost savings (net present value, 2011$) and will result in nearly 40 million metric tons of additional CO2 emissions. Table 1 below shows the lost consumer and business savings and additional emissions caused by the delays for each overdue standard.

The delays and resulting costs are still mounting. Each additional month of delay will cost consumers another $300 million in lost savings and result in another 4.4 million metric tons of additional CO2 emissions.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is the agency responsible for completing new efficiency standards. Once DOE completes a notice of proposed rule (?NOPR?) or a final rule containing a new standard, it must be approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). During the first two years of the Obama administration, DOE and OMB worked well to complete new standards on time. But over the past two years, OMB?s reviews have become lengthy?as long as 16 months in one case?and DOE has fallen behind.

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ColoradoEnergyNews/~3/s44IfD0uh0I/

the client list yahoo.com/mail baylor april 9 albatross louis oosthuizen phil mickelson