Environment America and our allies go to court to protect water- and energy-saving standards for appliances

Clean water

Jake Taber

To protect our climate and environment, we’ll need to use less energy and less water. Showers and clothes washers and dryers use lots of both, so making them more efficient is a boon for the planet. 

That’s why we can’t let two recent Department of Energy rules, finalized in December 2020 under the Trump administration, stand as they are. One rule allows showerheads to expel more water and consume more energy; the other creates a new class of washers and dryers with less stringent efficiency standards. Along with U.S. PIRG and the Alliance for Water Efficiency, Environment America is challenging both in court.

“These Department of Energy rules set up tens of thousands of Americans to needlessly and unintentionally waste water and energy each time they hop in the shower and clean their clothes,” said Environment America Energy Conservation and Efficiency Associate Brynn Furey.

Environment America members previously submitted more than 10,000 public comments opposing the showerhead rule. 

Read more.

Photo: Showerheads used to be capped at 2.5 gallons per minute of flow; the new DoE rule would apply that standard to each individual nozzle, not the whole head. Credit: PublicDomainPictures via Pixabay

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Jake Taber