DALLAS — Government-driven design changes in light bulbs, washing machines and toilets may actually be less efficient, more expensive and less “green” than consumers realize, according to a new report released today by the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA).
“The ‘green’ lobby’s pursuit of forcing consumers to use less by imposing mandates has resulted in few if any environmental or resource benefits,” said NCPA Senior Fellow Sterling Burnett. “However, these green mandates have resulted in lost jobs, higher appliance prices and consumers angered by new appliances that don’t work as well or last as long as the replaced ones.”
Burnett fears more appliance restrictions are coming. “The government that took away our light bulbs and better functioning toilets now plans to require icemakers that freeze water using less energy,” said Burnett, who co-authored the report. “I suspect the result will be higher prices for appliances that often don’t make fully solid ice – we may find water running out of our freezers.”
“The government should stop dictating to consumers what products they buy and how much energy they use. The feds can’t get their own fiscal house in order, and they should certainly stay out of telling us how to run ours,” Burnett concluded.
Authored by H. Sterling Burnett and Wesley Dwyer: Green Technology Mandates: Bad for Consumers & Environment. Full text: http://www.ncpathinktank.org/pub/ba749
2nd Report Released
Another new NCPA analysis released today examines the potential benefits and limits of distributed solar power generation. “Distributed Solar Power,” by Olufemi Olarewaju and H. Sterling Burnett, focuses on developing countries with critical needs for new power sources.
Full text: http://www.ncpathinktank.org/pub/ba748
H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D., is one of the country’s leading authorities on energy and environmental issues. He is the lead analyst of the National Center for Policy Analysis’ (NCPA) E-Team. Burnett’s area of expertise includes topics that affect every American, such as government environmental policy, offshore drilling, global warming, endangered species an public lands.