Wasteful air conditioning

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A BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL

Wasteful air conditioning

5/29/2002

LAST WEEK the US Department of Energy set back energy conservation with a

new standard for central air conditioning systems, requiring manufacturers

to improve efficiency by 20 percent by 2006, not the 30 percent set by the

Clinton administration. This despite the fact that the Environmental

Protection Agency estimates that the lower standard will waste enough power

to supply 7.4 million households, requiring the construction of 12 more

power plants.

The EPA's data reflect the increasing demand that air conditioning puts on

the nation's electrical grid. When electricity use peaks on hot summer days

because of heavy use of air conditioning, utilities draw on their most

expensive power sources, passing those costs on to their customers. So all

consumers benefit from more-efficient air conditioning, whether they own

systems themselves or not.

All the more reason to demand improvements in air conditioner efficiency, as

a 1987 law authorizes the Energy Department to do. The law says that

efficiency rules, once in place, cannot be weakened. The Bush administration

says it is not violating the law because it suspended the Clinton rule

before it became official, but that claim is being contested in federal

court.

Two of the seven states fighting for the more stringent rule, California and

New York, are both dealing with electricity shortages and the need to meet

clean-air standards. According to the EPA, the weaker rule will result

annually in 14,000 additional tons of smog-causing pollutants and 10 million

tons of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.

The technology for more efficient air conditioning exists; some systems

already do better than the Clinton rule would require. Goodman Manufacturing

of Houston, which makes Amana air conditioners, favors the Clinton rule,

calling it a ''real opportunity for a win for American consumers.'' If only

the Bush administration were as enlightened.

This story ran on page A18 of the Boston Globe on 5/29/2002.

© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.