Peter Welch: “I would like to speak in support of the Biden-Harris administration's finalized furnace efficiency standards and against…”

“I would like to speak in support of the Biden-Harris administration's finalized furnace efficiency standards and against S.J. Res. 58. The Department of Energy's finalized rule has been a long time coming, and we have not meaningfully updated the standards since the 1990s. Technology has advanced, but our regulations haven't kept up. Now, let me just talk, first of all, about the importance of efficiency in the role that regulations can play in allowing efficiency to benefit consumers and our environment. When we have standards, it means that the manufacturers compete with the production of products that meet those standards. It is not a race to the bottom. It is a level playing field for those in the manufacturing industry that want to sell their products to consumers. Having standards that are reasonable--and these are very reasonable-- then allows these better products to be sold, and the competition is a restraint on the price that is charged. So efficiency has always been something that can help us do the following: No. 1, reduce carbon emissions. The less energy that is used, the less carbon emissions are created. No. 2, it saves money. At the end of the day, you have a more efficient appliance. It is going to use less energy by whatever means that energy has been produced. No. 3, it tends to create jobs. The folks who manufacture these have workers. They have good jobs, and it is really important.…”