EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on Tuesday told lawmakers that Energy Star, the popular appliance efficiency program, could be privatized, while questioning just how much it had saved consumers.
“This program is an example of one that can be run outside of the government,” Zeldin said at the hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee in response to questions from Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.).
In recent weeks, Zeldin added, “multiple entities” have reached out to EPA “because they want to take over Energy Star, which is a program that requires a big staff, a big taxpayer-funded staff, and a whole lot of tax dollars.”
Zeldin also said the program was not created by Congress, an assertion later challenged by another Florida Democrat, Rep. Kathy Castor.
