EPA’s Energy Star is on the chopping block: Why experts say that’s ‘purposeless’

Energy Star, the federal program designed to encourage consumers to buy energy-efficient products, is on the chopping block this week, with experts calling it yet another "purposeless" cut to the Environmental Protection Agency.

UCLA environmental economist Magali Delmas, one of the experts who has researched the program's effectiveness, says most consumers need an extra reason to buy green, and Energy Star provided a variety of incentives, including making the value of energy savings visible through those distinctive yellow tags and blue logos on appliances like TVs and refrigerators. Eliminating the program is a shortsighted move that will cost consumers more, says UCLA Professor Stephanie Pincetl. In fact, according to the government's own Energy Star page, the program can save the average household $450 per year.

Delmas says:

• "Energy Star also certified commercial buildings, which are a huge source of greenhouse gases but also of potential energy savings. We studied the Energy Star program savings for commercial buildings in Los Angeles, where we found energy savings of 19.31%. According to the EPA, Energy Star and its partners helped Americans avoid $500 billion in energy costs since the program started in 1992."
• "In our qualitative interviews with commercial building owners and managers, the most cited reasons for participating in energy-saving programs were: savings with utilities, lower operating and maintenance costs, and recognition from tenants."
• "We studied how businesses make decisions about saving energy. For companies where engineers recommended, on average, about $10,000 in investment to save about $5,000 on energy every year - so you're recouping your costs very quickly, in just two years - only half of the businesses made the changes. This reflects a common challenge: many decision-makers focus on the initial cost rather than the long-term savings. Energy Star played a critical role in addressing this by both highlighting the long-term energy and financial savings and helping to reduce the upfront costs through rebates and incentives."
• "Some people want energy efficiency for its own sake, but most consumers need more incentive than that, and for each product, EPA thought strategically about how to boost the adoption of greener products. Energy Star arranged for consumers to get rebates from their utility companies if they bought more efficient appliances. Incentives like that will almost certainly disappear now."
• "Everyone recognizes the Energy Star label. It's on your computer, your fridge, your dishwasher. This is just the latest example of the dismantling of (the) EPA, and hardly the most important thing taken away, but Energy Star has been hugely successful in saving energy."

Pincetl says:

• "This is 'Make America Dirty Again.' The Energy Star program is entirely voluntary for appliance manufacturers to participate in, and it's saving people a lot of money on their energy bills. Are people supposed to start paying for more wasteful appliances?"
• "Like a lot of the current federal actions, this is harmful for the sake of doing harm. Energy Star ratings tell consumers how much energy their appliances consume. These shortsighted, purposeless cuts ensure shoppers will have less information about what they're buying, and as a result, spend more money to use more energy."
• "Energy Star isn't forcing appliance makers to change anything about their products. They're just giving consumers information about the resources they consume. Should consumers not have information about what they're buying?"

Media are free to quote from Delmas' and Pincetl's comments, or reach out for additional commentary from them and other UCLA climate experts.

Pincetl is a professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the founding director of the institute's California Center for Sustainable Communities. Her focus is on social and environmental justice and the need to develop equitable strategies to reduce human impacts. Her book, Transforming California, the Political History of Land Use in the State, is the definitive work on land use politics and policies of California.

Delmas is a professor in the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, and director of the Center for Impact. Delmas's research focuses on the drivers of both business and individual energy conservation behavior, examining what motivates companies to adopt energy-efficient practices and how consumers can be inspired to choose greener products. Her book, The Green Bundle: Pairing the Market with the Planet, examines how businesses can effectively communicate the economic and environmental benefits of sustainable products to encourage more sustainable consumer choices.