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AHRI Opposes House Energy Bill In Current Form
The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) announced
its opposition to H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of
2009 (ACES
Act) in its current form. If the bill is passed into law, it would, among many
other onerous provisions, eviscerate the federal preemption provisions of the
National Appliance Energy Conservation Act (NAECA) and the Energy Policy Act
of 1992 (EPACT).
“
In its current form, the ACES Act would effectively allow any jurisdiction in
the nation to enact its own energy policy through the use of prescriptive building
codes, severely impacting the ability of heating, air conditioning, and commercial
refrigeration manufacturers to provide products to residential and commercial
customers in the most timely, efficient, and economical way,” said AHRI
President Stephen Yurek. “Allowing any building code, anywhere in the country,
to specify an efficiency level for residential and commercial heating, cooling,
and commercial refrigeration equipment would quite simply create marketing and
distribution chaos for our member companies, distributors, and contractors, in
addition to threatening thousands of American jobs at a time of economic turmoil
and high unemployment,” Yurek said. Yurek stated that AHRI much prefers
the Senate’s approach to decreasing energy intensity.
“
We, as an industry, negotiated the federal preemption provisions of NAECA and
EPACT in good faith, obtaining those provisions in exchange for being regulated
for the first time with regard to energy efficiency,” Yurek said, adding
that, “We have unequivocally kept our end of the bargain, and our products
are more efficient than they have ever been. Up until now, Congress and regulatory
agencies have kept their end of the bargain, as well. The result has been a
very productive arrangement that has - and will - save the nation enormous
amounts
of energy - 54 quadrillion BTUs through 2030. We will vigorously oppose any
attempt to change the rules that have worked so well to preserve American jobs,
and protect
American consumers and the environment.”
Studies show that more than 60 percent of the homes in America have outdated,
less-efficient HVAC systems. Rather than allow states and localities to set
their own energy conservation standards through building codes, AHRI believes
that
Congress should revise and expand the tax credits contained in the stimulus
bill to allow more Americans to at least bring their heating and cooling systems
to
the federal minimum efficiency level.
“
We strongly believe that if a reduction in energy intensity is the goal - as
Congress has said many times it is - the focus has to be on upgrading the nation’s
installed base of heating and cooling equipment. It is of little use for Congress
to try and micromanage our industry while average homeowners struggle to afford
replacement of their old heating and cooling systems,” Yurek said. “As
an industry that has a proud record of producing highly energy efficient products,
we are eager to work with Congress to accomplish the nation’s energy reduction
goals. But Congress needs to leave manufacturing, distribution, installation,
and maintenance to the experts, and concentrate on providing incentives that
allow average Americans to save energy and money,” he said.
The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) is the
trade association representing manufacturers of air conditioning, heating and
commercial
refrigeration equipment. An internationally recognized advocate for the industry,
AHRI develops standards for and certifies the performance of many of these
products.
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