exclusive: A new congressional resolution filed by the GOP could block President Biden’s recent ban on natural gas water heaters, Fox News Digital has learned.
In the final days of the Biden administration, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced new regulations banning non-condensing natural gas water heaters by 2029 in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. But Republicans in Congress are seeking to intervene.
On Wednesday, Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., introduced the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which would allow Congress to overturn rules enacted by federal agencies and bypass the executive branch’s crackdown on devices. The bill was first shared with Fox News Digital.
“It’s a radical ban on water heaters. It’s another example of government overreach under the Biden administration,” Palmer said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.
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Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ga., leaves a House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (Tom Williams)
Supporters of the Biden regulations, such as the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP), suggest that the regulations would eliminate 32 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from water heaters sold over 30 years.
But Palmer said this would have a serious economic impact on American workers, considering how much households would have to pay out of pocket to purchase new water heaters that comply.
The Alabama lawmaker expressed confidence that the CRA would pass the House, as several other Republican lawmakers signed on as sponsors.
“Joe Biden’s last-ditch effort to ban gas water heaters in his final days in office is just another green energy scam,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., one of the CRA’s co-sponsors, told Fox.
President Biden is speaking in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington on January 10. (AP/Ben Curtis)
“This attack on American consumers is not about saving the planet, it’s about control, higher costs, and imposing an unsustainable and radical agenda on every household,” Burlison said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. “Now is the time to protect the freedom and choice of the American people against these tyrannical regulations.”
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Other Republican co-sponsors include Julia Letlow of Louisiana, Mike Collins of Georgia, Randy Weber of Texas, Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma, Barry Moore of Alabama, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Claudia Tenney of New York, Russ Fulcher of Idaho, and Jack . Bergman (Michigan), Dan Crenshaw (Texas), Michelle Fischbach (Minnesota), Jeff Hurd (Colorado), Jim Baird (Colorado), Indiana.
The National Propane Gas Association also supports overturning the ban, telling Fox it “threatens to eliminate the market for non-condensing instantaneous gas water heaters.”
Angel Gomez, left, and Franes Mendez, technicians for heating, cooling and plumbing company John G. Webster, remove a gas water heater from a home in Washington, D.C., Aug. 28, 2024. (Bastien Inzauralde)
“This rule prevents families from replacing existing equipment with unnecessary and expensive modifications,” Steve Kaminski, president and CEO of the National Propane Gas Association, told Fox News Digital. “Forcing them to do so would impose excessive financial burdens for negligible energy savings and questionable economic benefits,” he said. .
During his term, Biden introduced regulations on various home appliances, including washing machines, gas stoves, and ceiling fans.
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But the Republican-controlled Congress will likely be “very aggressive in rolling back” some of the provisions advanced in Biden’s climate agenda, Palmer said.
