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The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate Energy Star, the popular energy -efficiency certification for dishwashers, refrigerators, dryers and other household appliances, according to documents from the agency and a recording of an internal meeting.
During an internal staff meeting on Monday, EPA managers announced that divisions that supervise climate change and energy efficiency would be eliminated as part of a reorganization of the agency. This includes the EPA’s Climate Change Office and the division that supervises Energy Star.
“The Energy Star program and all the other climate work, apart from what the articles of association requires, are prioritated and eliminated,” said Paul Gunning, the director of the EPA Office of Atmospheric Protection, according to the recording obtained by the New York Times. Mr Gunning’s office himself is also planned for elimination.
For the past 33 years, Energy Star has been known for its recognizable blue label, which shows that a device has met energy -efficient standards that have been established by the federal government.
It is credited to change the way Americans encourage manufacturers to make products that use less power, as well as reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Since its foundation under the first President George Bush in 1992, Energy Star has helped households and companies to save more than $ 500 billion in energy costs and to get discounts and tax credits, according to the program 2024 Report. At the same time, it has also prevented four billion tons of greenhouse gases being released in the atmosphere.
According to the government, almost 90 percent of American consumers acknowledge the Energy Star label. “It is an easy way for them to identify high energy efficiency equipment,” said Steve Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an energy-efficient economy.
“It has widespread support from all presidents except Trump,” said Mr Nadel.
President Trump has remedied against energy -efficient devices and focuses particularly on shower heads and toilets that are designed to save water.
During his first term, Mr. tried. Trump to eliminate the financing for Energy Star and describe it as not essential for the core mission of the EPA and something that could be run by the private sector. The attempt to defend the program led to a declaration of legislators to both parties who said that privatizing it could lower the standards of the program.
Mr. Trump 2026’s budget plan for the EPA reduces the Office of Atmospheric Protection, but does not specifically make a report from Energy Star.
Molly Vaseliou, a spokeswoman for the EPA, did not confirm that the program was eliminated. She said in a statement that the agency had announced “organizational improvements in the personnel structure that will immediately improve the American people and better promote the core mission of the agency.”
A graph obtained by the New York Times indicates that other programs on the chopping block the EPA’s work on climate economy, climate science, climate policy, greenhouse gas reporting and a voluntary program include industries working with agency to defeat the emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
The graph says that the staff “can be assigned to other positions” in the air offices of the EPA.
Paula R. Glover, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, a group that promotes energy efficiency, said that the Energy Star program costs $ 32 million, but $ 40 billion in annual savings on invoices of utility accounts.
“Eliminating the Energy Star program is contraindative to the promise of this administration to reduce household costs,” she said.
Mr. Trump also claims that the United States is confronted with an energy law.
Mrs. Glover said that she agreed that the country was confronted with an energy crisis, with the demand for electricity expected at 35 to 50 percent in 2040. That makes energy efficiency efforts such as Energy Star crucial, she said.
“We will not just be able to build our way from our energy needs,” she said.
In March, dozens of companies and trade organizations, including the American Chamber of Commerce Lee Zeldin, the EPA manager, begged to protect Energy Star. They represented a series of industries, including heating, lighting, household appliances and food housing manufacturers.
“The Energy Star program is an example of an effective non-regulating program and partnership between the government and the private sector,” they wrote. “Eliminating it will not serve the American people.”
The changes at EPA are part of a broader restructuring. Last week, employees were told that scientists would be distributed from the independent research agency of the agency to other divisions where they would become the task of, among other things, approving the use of new chemicals.
Mr Zeldin also announced that the overhaul of the Agency would reduce the staff to levels that was last seen during the Reagan administration, when it had between 1,000 to 3,000 fewer employees.
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