 |
|
|
|||||
If youve gone shopping for a home appliance sometime in the last 30 years, youve probably noticed a blue Energy Star label on certain water heaters, stoves, light bulbs, and even windows. The program, launched by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1992, helps consumers identify energy-efficient products. But now the Trump administration is planning to shut it down. President Donald Trump has been attacking energy-efficiency measures since his return to office. In February, he said he would call on the EPA to revert to older efficiency standards for light bulbs, toilets, showers, and more. In his Unleashing American Energy order, Trump promised to safeguard the American peoples freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances, including but not limited to lightbulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets, and shower heads. Experts say the Energy Star standards are meant to help the environment by reducing water and energy consumption; they also lower U.S. households energy bills. And though Trump has framed standards as limiting to consumer choice, the Energy Star program itself is voluntary, and doesnt narrow what manufacturers can produce. To earn the Energy Star label, products do have to meet certain efficiency standardsbut the program doesnt stop manufacturers from making items that are not considered energy efficient, or Americans from purchasing them. (Energy Star stopped recommending any gas stoves in 2022, for example, but gas stoves are still available in America.) Energy Star also points consumers toward tax credits to bring down the cost of efficient appliances. Energy Star certifies all sorts of items, from heating and cooling (including heat pumps, ceiling fans, air conditioners, and thermostats) to appliances (like washers and dryers, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, refrigerators, and cooking products), plus water heaters, lighting, windows, and personal electronics like computers and TVs. By certifying efficient appliances, Energy Star has helped American households and businesses avoid more than $500 billion in energy costs since its founding, per a 2023 report. With an annual budget of around $50 millionless than 1% of the EPAs spending, the Alliance to Save Energy notesEnergy Star saves Americans $40 billion on energy bills each year. Energy Star has also prevented about 4 billion metric tons of emissions from entering the atmosphereequivalent to taking more than 933 million gas cars off the road for one year. Trump considered dismantling Energy Star in his first term. His move to eliminate it now comes alongside plans to shutter the EPAs climate change division and climate protection partnership division, sources told CNN. Historically, Energy Star has had bipartisan support, and more than 1,000 companies, cities, and organizations have signed a letter to the EPA urging continued support for the program. Republican senators have even praised the program, The Washington Post notes, saying it helped customers reduce their energy bills. Energy efficiency in general has strong public and bipartisan support. A March 2025 survey by Consumer Reports found that 87% of Americans agree that new U.S. home appliances should need to achieve a minimum level of efficiency (that included 94% of Democrats and 82% of Republicans). Supporters of Energy Star add that axing the program goes against the Trump administrations promises to lower energy costs for Americans, as well as efforts by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to save taxpayer money. If you wanted to raise families energy bills, getting rid of the Energy Star label would be a pretty good way, Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, said in a statement. This would take away basic information from consumers who want to choose cost-saving products easily. Theres a reason this program has been so popular with consumers and manufacturers alike. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, which represents a variety of appliance makers, said the industry is proud of its efficiency achievements, and that Energy Star is an example of a successful private-public partnership. “AHAM supports the continuation of a streamlined Energy Star program, which could be managed through the Department of Energy,” a spokesperson added. (Energy Star is currently a joint program of the EPA and DOE.) “Moving the program to DOE would meet the administrations goals of preserving a full selection of products from which consumers can choose, and also reducing unnecessary regulatory burden.”
Category:
E-Commerce
Ever wondered what happens when you add random household items to the same bowl every day for 100 days straight? Well, youre in luck. One TikTok account has made it their mission to find outso you dont have to. The anonymous account, known simply as Bowl of Danger, adds random stuff to a bowl each day until they get in danger. @bowlofdanger The experiment began in January with a dollop of sunscreen. Each day, something new entered the mix: sugar, whipped cream, deodorant, lit firecrackers, batteries, nail polish, vodka, a whole pizza, a Big Mac. Cant imagine how bad that reeks, someone wrote in the comments. I just unlocked a new facial expression, added a second. Another warned, No cuz I genuinely think were making a pandemic (check out day 25 at your own risk). For every person who scrolls past in horror, plenty are invested. Some of the most viral Bowl of Danger videos have racked up millions of views, with fans suggesting new items to add. As for Day 100? The video was taken down, but according to the comments, it involved a firecracker and an explosion. Since Bowl of Danger went viral, a number of copycat accounts have emerged. Theres The Danger Bowl, naturally, and Bowl of Livingan organic version of the original series. Mold is just a simple form of life, the creator says. I want to create something morelike a new species. If you prefer your bowl of rot with an educational edge, theres also Bowl of Science. While other bowls waste food or resources, we mix a bowl with things that only physically or chemically react, the creator said in one video, taking a swipe at the competition. Where you actually can learn from. A theory is also circulating that the different anonymous accounts may be run by the same person under different aliases. Warning: If youre considering making your own bowl at home, remember that mixing random stuff can have harmful, even deadly, side effects. (Ever heard of mustard gas?) But if you missed the first round, good news: Season 2 of Bowl of Danger just started.
Category:
E-Commerce
In 2008, the American dream of homeownership morphed into a nightmare that tanked the global economy. The culprit? A toxic mix of bad mortgages and casino mentality. Today, another financial time bomb is tickingand this one is fueled by rising seas, wildfires, and a lethal dose of denial. Climate change is quietly corroding the foundations of the U.S. housing market. From Floridas hurricane-battered coasts to Californias fire-razed suburbs, a crisis is brewing that could make the subprime mortgage collapse look like a warm-up act. The crisis will be triggered by home insurance. To get a mortgage, you need homeowners insurance. But in climate-vulnerable Sunbelt states like California and Florida, insurers are either fleeing or increasing premiums to eye-watering heights. In some areas, home insurance costs have doubled or tripled in just three years. In others, policies are vanishing altogether. Meanwhile, in a stunning irony, the top 16 U.S. insurance companies hold more than $500 billion in fossil fuel investmentscollecting premiums with one hand while funding the climate disasters that force them to pay out with the other. Homeowners on the hook Current homeowners and retirees are sitting ducks. Florida, Arizona, and Texas lure seniors with sun and tax breaks, but fixed incomes cant absorb climate chaos. In Arizona, home insurance premiums have surged by 62% since 2019 driven by wildfire risks. Texas has seen rates climb by 40% since 2015, as hurricanes and other climate-driven disasters batter the state. Imagine a retiree watching their insurance premium spike from $7,500 to $17,000 overnight. Florida retirees spend 34% of their average income on home insurance. (Nationally, retirees pay 8% of their income toward home insurance.) Their options are grim: Drain savings, sell, default, or, for those who own their homes outright, go bare, skipping insurance entirelya risky bet that leaves them one disaster from devastation. Multiply that by millions of people, and you get a fire sale of homes, crashing property values, and ghost towns of stranded assets. A 2023 study found that U.S. properties exposed to flood risk are overvalued by $121 billion to $237 billion. Local governments will feel the squeeze like never before. Florida funds schools, roads, and police forces via property taxes. Paradise, California, which was ravaged by wildfire in 2018, wiped out 90% of its property tax base and almost all its local revenue. What happens to a city when its tax base collapses? Detroit offers a cautionary tale here. The Motor Citys population plunged from a peak of about 1.8 million in the 1950s to barely 700,000 by 2010 as jobs vanished and residents fled. Detroit spiraled into the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Streetlights literally went dark; entire neighborhoods were abandoned. Unlike Detroits industrial decline, a future trigger would be natural calamitybut the end result (a city unable to pay its bills) could look eerily similar. Could Miami or New Orleans face a similar fate? Subprime mortgages are back And lets not forget the banks: Theyre sitting on trillions in mortgages tied to homes that could soon be uninsurable, unlivable, or underwater (literally). The 2008 subprime crash taught us that if homeowners default en masse, the contagion can spread through mortgage-backed securities and derivativesexcept this time, it’s not bad borrowers but uninhabitable land driving a similar chain reaction. In the 2000s, lenders treated subprime mortgages like an all-you-can-eat buffet, convinced home prices would only rise. Today, lenders cling to the fantasy that climate risk is manageable or priced in. Spoiler: Its not. Research from McKinsey reveals that even as insurance companies acknowledge climate risks, they haven’t meaningfully integrated these same risks into their investment strategies or mortgage underwriting practices. This cognitive dissonance mirrors the 2008 crisis, when rating agencies slapped AAA ratings on what were essentially junk securities. As storms intensify and wildfire seasons lengthen, mortgage defaults will surge. And guess whos holding the bag? Taxpayers, via Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Just like in 2008, savvy mortgage originators are quietly dumping risky mortgages onto government-backed entities, making you, the taxpayer, the ultimate insurer of Americas climate delusion. Sprawling suburbs in floodplains, McMansions in fire corridors, and regulatory blind spots have created a Ponzi scheme of climate risk. Heres the kicker: Theres little chance climate risk will be containedto borrow Ben Bernankes famously off-the-mark reassurance about subprime. The financial contagion will spread rapidly across markets because climate-vulnerable mortgages, like subprime loans before them, have been bundled, securitized, and distributed throughout the global financial system. How to mitigate the disaster So, whats the fallout when this bubble bursts? Retirees forced out, cities bankrupted, banks bailed outits 2008 with a side of rising oceans. The lesson from subprime was simple: Denying reality doesnt erase risk; it just guarantees a harder crash. The looming crisis isnt a mystery, and neither are the solutions. We can take steps right now to defuse this climate housing bubble before it pops. First off, policymakers can require far greater transparency about climate risks. Homebuyers have the right to know if that bargain beachfront cottage is likely to floodyet shockingly, states like Florida (with some of the highest overvaluation) do not require sellers to disclose flood risk to buyers. Mandatory disclosure laws for flood, fire, and heat risks would inject some reality into pricing and steer some people out of harms way. Next, we need to end perverse incentives that encourage building and rebuilding in disaster zones. For decades, the federal governmentvia cheap flood insurance, disaster aid, and infrastructure spendinghas socialized climate risk, effectively footing the bill for risky development with taxpayer money. The National Flood Insurance Program, for example, historically charged below-market rates and racked up $20 billion in debt, requiring repeated bailouts. Its now moving toward risk-based pricing, which is painful for homeowners but absolutely necessary to signal where its safe (and not safe) to build. Similarly, officials could tighten zoning and building codes in high-risk areas, or even prohibit new construction in the most exposed floodplains and fire zones. (As one former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency bluntly suggested: Stop writing government-backed insurance for brand-new houses in flood zones). In parallel, banks and regulators must get serious about integrating climate risk into lending decisions. That could mean requiring robust insurance coverage (beyond the minimal standards) on mortgaged homes, adjusting loan-to-value ratios or loan terms in ultra-risky areas, and incorporating climate data into underwriting models when valuing mortgage portfolios. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in particular, should lead by not purchasing loans on obviously doomed properties. Why extend a 30-year mortgage on a house that may be underwater (literally) in 20? On the community level, we need to shore up climate resilience to protect home values: stronger levees and hardened grids, yes, but also difficult conversations about strategic retreat. In some places, the safest plan is to help people move now, rather than rebuild for the fifth time after a disaster. Policymakers can create funds for voluntary buyouts and relocations to get vulnerable families into safer housinga managed retreat thats humane and ahead of the curve. None of this is easy or cheap. But the alternativemaintaining our current courseis far more costly. The 2008 crash taught us that unheeded risk in housing markets can bring the entire economy to its knees. We have an opportunity today to prevent a replay, this time driven by climate rather than credit. It will require political courage, sober risk management from lenders, and, yes, higher costs up front in some cases. But proactively pricing in climate risk (and mitigating it where possible) is like preventive medicine. It might sting now, but it will save us from far greater pain down the road. The housing collapse of 08 wiped out $7 trillion in homeowner equity and ravaged communities; a climate-induced collapse could be even worse if we do nothing. Will policymakers and lenders act before Miami becomes Atlantis and Phoenix a blast furnace? Or will they keep chanting the same mantrahome prices only go upuntil the levees break, literally and financially? Times up. The waters rising. And this time, theres no bailout big enough.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||