Let's End the Eerie Empire-Building "EERE" Now and Restore Some Sanity to the Department of Energy
Guest Post from Mark Krebs and Tom Tanton at Master Resource.
The incoming Trump Administration, committed to tame inflation and the Deep (Administrative) State, recognizes energy as the master resource. This blogsite by the same name was established in 2007 to demonstrate the importance of energy exceptionalism free-market style.
Politicized “energy efficiency” policies increase costs and limit choice for consumers, thus the need for government mandates and subsidies. The failed history of government in this area–and why–are cross-referenced here by author and subject. These resources are freely available to anyone interested in the evolution of energy policy.
It is our sincere hope that the incoming Trump Administration, the Department of Energy, the newly formed National Energy Council and/or its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) make use of these resources in considering what to overhaul and what to scrap.
Of particular interest to us is the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Simply put, EERE is obsolete and counterproductive to a free-market economy. Structural reformation of EERE is overdue for improving consumer choice and prosperity. And it is a relatively easy budget cut.
The Krebs category uniquely provides the devils-in-the-details of how EERE routinely flouts its own laws and regulations and manipulates “data” to stifle legitimate interests of everyday consumers. Further, the original justification for EERE, dating back to the 1970’s oil embargoes, has long been solved. Some 50-years later, it’s well past time to declare victory and move on.
Beginning in 2013, Mark Krebs (with frequent collaboration from Tom Tanton) has authored 60 articles at MasterResource. It is our hope that these articles (listed below) provide the incoming Trump Administration with ample rationale for eliminating EERE.
Major Themes
These are the top four re-occurring themes:
EERE’s irrational push for societal electrification via renewable generation is Congressionally unauthorized mission creep that overloads already challenged electric grids and will conservatively cost taxpayers $18-29 Trillion. Others estimate “electrifying everything” can’t be done at any cost due to raw material constraints.
EERE routinely reduces consumer choice and/or increases consumer costs through biased appliance efficiency standards.
EERE’s renewable energy favoritism further inflates electricity costs and reduces energy security through limiting energy diversity and shifting the market to electric appliances.
EERE and its beholding minions (e.g., the “National Labs”) routinely “pack the bleachers” and rig the apparatus of so-called “consensus” building energy codes to move the market to electrocentric “net zero” construction. The added expenses of such homes deters the American Dream of home ownership.
Illustrations
Pictures can be worth a thousand words when it comes to understanding EERE’s self-serving motives. The most pernicious of which is arguably its self-serving empire building/mission creep of the “Deep State.” Here are pictorial examples:
From Heat Pump Subsidies: Never Enough:
“Transitioning” energy efficiency to carbon efficiency grows the regulation business
From Warring Against Natural Gas: Joint EEI/NRDC Statement to NARUC (crony environmentalism at work):
From Gas Furnace Rule Part II: Return of the “Scorched Gas” Policy:
Archived Posts
While several other excellent analyses populate the MasterResource’s energy efficiency category, authors Krebs and Tanton[1] are the most prolific and proficient in documenting and explaining the routine gaming of DOE’s “energy efficiency” policies. See also the complete “Krebs Category” archive. There is also a category for articles by Tom Tanton here, which covers topics beyond energy efficiency and EERE.
Conclusion
MasterResource has long documented DOE’s abuse of its of energy efficiency authority (predominately through articles by Krebs and Tanton) in the hope that the time would come for someone willing, able, and insightful enough to make significant course corrections.
Finally, with the Trump 47 Administration, the time is now to purge the Deep State’s self-serving, empire-building mission creep that permeates EERE. Please feel free to contact us as shown below, if we can be of further assistance.
Mark Krebs (markedwardkrebs@gmail.com), a mechanical engineer and energy policy consultant, has been involved with energy efficiency design and program evaluation for over thirty years. Mark has served as an expert witness in dozens of State energy efficiency proceedings, has been an advisor to DOE and has submitted scores of Federal energy-efficiency filings.
Tom Tanton (tantontwitter@gmail.com) is a Director of the Energy and Environmental Legal Institute. Mr. Tanton has 45 years in energy and environmental policy, focused on enabling technology choice and economic development. Mr. Tanton has testified to numerous state Legislatures and Congress as an expert on energy policy. He formerly served as Principal Policy Advisor at the California Energy Commission.
#Krebs #Tanton #DeepState #Energy #EnergyEfficiency #Trump #FreeMarket
Yet another fruitless government agency. The only accomplishment they can make is overreach. Hopefully DOGE wipes them out.
It often looks like the cat and the laser light show with the labs following the money (a.k.a. - the laser light). There’s a lot of erratic movement and it can be comical at times to watch, but not much else happens in the way of true productivity for the taxpayer.