Trump Effort To Ban Low-Flow Toilets Likely To Be Flushed By Biden Administration

Former President Donald Trump‘s long-fought war against low-flow toilets will likely come to an end due to President Joe Biden‘s progressive energy initiatives.

Biden’s Department of Energy sent a memo on Friday to the Office of Management and Budget announcing an investigation into Trump-era regulations regarding household appliance water pressure water pressure. The DOE’s order comes in response to an original Biden executive order asking all departments to review Trump-era regulations that don’t align with current efforts to combat climate change.

“By reviewing these rules and regulations, the Department of Energy will determine whether policy changes are necessary to lower Americans’ energy bills, create manufacturing jobs in the U.S., and cut down on polluting carbon emissions,” said Kathleen Hogan, acting Undersecretary for Science and Energy in a subsequent statement.

In late 2019, Trump began a series of rants in which he insisted “people are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once… they end up using more water.” He said during a speech in Milwaukee, “Toilets and showers. You do not get any water.”

Trump-instated lower standards then allowed for laundry machines and dishwashers to have a shorter wash time in exchange for a higher water flow rate. The leaders at the Appliance Standards Awareness Project denounced the change in standards saying they would lead to “enormous amounts of water and energy, which would increase utility bills and greenhouse gas emissions,” and that they “will increase utility bills and carbon emissions while undercutting manufacturers’ investments in efficient products.”

“These last-minute Trump rules that allow for products that needlessly waste energy and water are ridiculous and out of step with the climate crisis and the long-term drought facing much of the country,” said Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, in a statement December. “The Biden administration can and should promptly reverse them.”

Article by Brandon Mumei