Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford and a handful of others say the Biden administration should abandon a plan to require new homes to be subject to “unrealistic and overly burdensome energy efficiency standards.”
He and Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, Tim Scott of South Carolina, John Barrasso of Wyoming and John Boozman of Arkansas contend the new standards will result in less new housing, increased costs for residential contractors and harm low-income households.
They wrote the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the US Department of Agriculture, calling the standards another of the Biden administration’s “reckless commitment to forcing its unrealistic environmental agenda onto various aspects of the economy via its push toward electrification, regulating household appliances, and the stifling of conventional American energy production.”
“So it is not at all surprising that the Administration is now forcing its agenda onto families purchasing or renting a home, all while admitting that ‘lower-income households . . . may be challenged in their ability to address first costs’,” said Sen. Lankford.
He asked the agencies to abandon the effort of their revised international energy conservation code (IECC) and American society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers standards.
The letter was also signed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN), Katie Britt (R-AL), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Roger Wicker (R-MS.).
View the full letter here
