SALON

Tuesday, Sep 11, 2007 6:52 PM UTC

Are clean shirts and energy efficiency only for the rich?

Some new washing machines don't work very well. Is it the government's fault?

By

Topics: Environment, Globalization, How the World Works,

“Energy-efficiency really means that the government is going to choose how white your shirts are gonna be,” expostulates Alex Tabarrok, an economics professor at George Mason University who co-writes the “Marginal Revolution” blog with Tyler Cowen. He’s riffing off a June Consumer Reports appraisal of washing machines that found that cheap energy-efficient washers did a bad job of getting out those nasty stains. From Consumer Reports:

Not so long ago you could count on most washers to get your clothes very clean. Not anymore. Our latest tests found huge performance differences among machines. Some left our stain-soaked swatches nearly as dirty as they were before washing. For best results, you’ll have to spend $900 or more.

What happened? As of January, the U.S. Department of Energy has required washers to use 21 percent less energy, a goal we wholeheartedly support. But our tests have found that traditional top-loaders, those with the familiar center-post agitators, are having a tough time wringing out those savings without sacrificing cleaning ability, the main reason you buy a washer.

For Tabarrok, who leans decidedly to the libertarian side of the spectrum, the data point on washing machines is sufficient grist to undermine the very notion that the federal government should attempt to mandate energy efficiency. He’s not alone in this view. The New York Times’ John Tierney seized upon the same Consumer Reports tidbit several months ago, and his gist was identical: Ham-handed government regulation is making life worse for consumers! Only the rich can afford to be environmentally conscious!

That’s routine stuff from Tierney. But now that Tabarrok has joined the bandwagon, we can consider it a full-fledged meme: Energy efficiency equals a degradation in the quality of life, especially for poor people.

Before challenging this point of view directly, let me hasten to acknowledge the self-evident truth that yes, tradeoffs do exist and there ain’t no free lunch. I personally have a top-of-the-line, front-loading, energy-efficient washer dryer combo. It works great. I also have a bottom-of-the-barrel energy-efficient dishwasher. It is the worst major appliance it has ever been my displeasure to be acquainted with. I am not sure, but I suspect, that corners were cut to satisfy California’s stringent energy efficiency requirements, and that because I did not do the proper pre-purchase research I got stuck with a lemon.

Then again, I am also proud that Californians consume less energy per capita than the residents of 46 other states, in large part because of pioneering work in setting energy efficiency standards. I also continue to be astounded by the fact that the U.S. as a whole, consumes far less water per capita, and less in total, than it did 25 years ago, again, in part due to regulatory restrictions (low-flow toilets, etc.) These are good things.

I am also not particularly amazed at the news that some washing machines right now don’t work very well because manufacturers are trying to comply with regulations that went into effect in January. Tabarrok and Tierney should have more faith in the market. My bet is that a few years from now, cheaper, energy-efficient, and effective washing machines will be widespread. At least, that’s what the data gathered so far appears to indicate. A study published under the auspices of the International Energy Agency, “Do energy efficient appliances cost more?” discovered that, contrary to expectations, prices have dropped for a wide range of major appliances since the enactment of energy efficiency regulations.

Strange, neither Tierney nor Tabarrok noted the data point that new refrigerators consume far less energy, are cheaper, and yes, keep food cold as an example of how governmental regulation can work.

There might be a better way. A tax policy that hikes energy costs might be a more efficient goad to encourage manufacturers to seek energy efficiency and consumers to conserve than micromanaging the efficiency of individual appliances. But in the absence of such a politically costly move, I’ll take what I can get.

Andrew Leonard

Andrew Leonard is a staff writer at Salon. On Twitter, @koxinga21. More Andrew Leonard.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 15 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations