An expected veto from President Joe Biden arose after the Senate passed a resolution that would reverse the Department of Energy’s energy efficiency requirements for gas furnaces.
In an effort to save customers money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) sponsored a resolution to disapprove a DOE regulation that would have required energy efficiency requirements for home gas furnaces.
Cruz and other Republicans said that the program would essentially outlaw all kinds of non-condensing furnaces, requiring homeowners to either switch to electric heat pumps or shell out a hefty sum of money to have their homes compliant with the new furnace regulations.
Cruz stated during floor remarks that “this rule is a continuation of the Joe Biden administration’s capitulation to left-wing radicals who value obeying climate orthodoxy more than helping people really care for their kids and prepare for the future.”
The vote was 50 to 45, with the backing of all current Republicans. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Bob Casey (D-PA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Joe Manchin (D-WV) are among the Democrats who crossed party lines.
In an earlier administrative policy statement on Tuesday, the White House said that Biden would veto the bill, citing the rule’s justification as “technologically viable and fiscally justifiable.”
Climate hawk Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), who authored the initial law requiring appliance standards, was one of the Senate Democrats who supported the rule, referring to it as a “commonsense upgrade.”
“It is about working smarter, not harder,” Markey stated in remarks on the floor. “Use less energy and less electricity.”
The DOE regulation, which went into effect in February, aims to reduce energy expenditures for households by $24.8 billion over a 30-year period and household utility expenses by $1.5 billion annually. The government projects that increasing these efficiency requirements will reduce carbon emissions by 332 million metric tons during that time, which is equal to the yearly emissions of 42 million residences combined.
The last change to these efficiency criteria occurred in 2007.
Congressional Republicans, on the other hand, have made it their goal to reverse the efficiency requirements for certain appliances set by the Biden administration. Most notably, this summer, Republican senators attacked the White House over the administration’s attempts to regulate gas stoves. Claiming that the federal government was attempting to take away gas stoves from people, a number of politicians passed multiple pieces of legislation to thwart rules affecting the appliances.
In the House, Representatives Pat Fallon (R-TX) and Michelle Fischbach (R-MN) proposed a similar resolution. The lower chamber will now consider the issue.
