The House Energy and Commerce Committee cleared a spate of bills Wednesday that would target energy efficiency rules, putting on display partisan rifts over affordability and emissions reductions.
Lawmakers did find bipartisan agreement on legislation that would reauthorize a program that helps low-income homeowners insulate and weatherize their homes.
Overall, the markup was the latest push by congressional Republicans to roll back the Department of Energy’s energy efficiency standards for home appliances. They also continued their fight against Democratic policies that allow state or local governments to ban the use of specific energy sources in buildings.
“Energy efficiency is important as a general matter, but it’s a major problem when regulations are drafted to meet arbitrary standards despite diminishing returns on actual, house-effective gains in efficiency,” said Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.).
