Joe Biden gave his plan for the greening of America in a speech this week. In it he said he would deal with the demise of the world now scheduled for 9 years from now. To do so, he would eliminate fossil fuels by 2015, ban fossil fuel production on federal lands and offshore, drive zero emission cars and apply aggressive new appliance and building standards. This last item caught my eye so I thought I would offer my anecdotal appliance experience as a counter to this particular false greening item.
My parents bought a GE refrigerator. It was sometime before 1966 though I don’t have the exact date. We moved that refrigerator to 4 different residences. When I sold the last home in 1986, it was still working and stayed with the house. Fast forward to my purchases of refrigerators since then. I have had 3 since 1986 for an average lifespan of about 10 years, or less than half of the GE presumably still working in the basement of my old home.
I asked our appliance repairman, who’s services we have needed on several occasions, why is it that appliances seem to not last as long, he told me this. The “energy star” label means that the motors and other elements that make the machine work, have all been reduced in power and substance to reduce energy consumption. The end result is that they do not last as long and require more repairs to keep them running. Good for him but bad for consumers and the environment. Why? Consumers are paying for more repairs and replacing units more often. The increased number of broken units are going into our landfills. Once again, the best of intentions thwarted by a feelgood effort.
So here goes Joe doubling down on the same old, same old. Think anyone will examine just how well the last effort worked
Current Day Publius 