Pressed by a teenage Swedish girl, President Joe Biden is trying to clean up the world.
How? Getting rid of gas stoves and incandescent light bulbs.
Biden couches the takeaways as part of an Orwellian program dubbed “Cost-Saving Energy Efficiency Standards.”
The U.S. Energy Department confirmed last week that it will move forward with an August 1 ban on the manufacture and retail sale of most incandescent light bulbs. The move reverses a 2019 decision by then-President Donald Trump.
As everyone knows, LED light bulbs are expensive, so forget those promised cost savings. A four-pack of EcoSmart LED bulbs costs $11.98 on Amazon, while a four-pack of GE incandescent bulbs costs $8.89.
“The lighting industry is already embracing more energy efficient products, and this measure will accelerate progress to deliver the best products to American consumers and build a better and brighter future,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said last year.
But a coalition of free market and consumer groups opposed to incandescent bulb bans took issue with that stance.
“We believe that further regulatory interference in the marketplace is unwarranted given that more energy efficient lighting choices, namely light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, are already available for those consumers who prefer them over incandescent bulbs,” the coalition wrote in a letter to the Energy Department last year, Fox News reported.
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“While LEDs are more efficient and generally longer-lasting than incandescent bulbs, they currently cost more than incandescent bulbs and are inferior for certain functions such as dimming,” the coalition added.
Meanwhile, Granholm bristled when asked about the Biden administration’s efforts to restrict or ban the use of gas stoves in the home. “That is so ridiculous, that story. Because, it sounds like government’s coming in to take your stuff. That is so not true. That is just not true,” she said, according to Forbes.
But days later, Granholm’s Department of Energy proposed a new regulation governing home energy consumption, “which seeks to diminish the use of, you guessed it, gas stoves in the home,” Forbes wrote.
Even Democrats pushed back. “The federal government has no business telling me – or any American family – how to cook dinner,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) wrote in a Twitter post. “That’s why I’m proud to lead a bipartisan bill with @SenTedCruz to ensure Americans decide how to cook in their own homes.”
And late last month, Democrats in a Colorado city put the kibosh on gas stations.
Boulder announced it would set a limit of six gas stations in the area for its 21,000 residents in an effort to tackle climate change. There are currently five gas stations in the area and a sixth gas station that is in the approval process for construction.
And that’s it — so get in line.
Council member Maxine Most said it’s a “good idea to decarbonize because it sends a signal and send a message,” the Daily Mail reported.
“Gasoline station bans may also be seen as promoting the use of Electric Vehicles (EVs), thus, reducing vehicle emissions and encouraging low-carbon and cleaner energy options for transportation,” the approved proposal states.
We’d try to predict what’s coming next, what Democrats will decide what needs regulating, but it’s gotten so weird that we’ve really got no idea.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.