Senate Energy Committee Chairman Joe Manchin III is placing the kibosh on certainly one of President Biden’s high Department of Energy nominees over the administration’s proposed effectivity requirements for brand new fuel stoves.
Mr. Manchin, the conservative West Virginia Democrat who’s feuding with the White House over a litany of the president’s clear vitality insurance policies, stated Wednesday he’s “not comfortable moving forward” with Jeff Marootian’s nomination to be assistant secretary for DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Mr. Manchin pulled a scheduled vote to advance his nomination to the total Senate set for Wednesday.
“While I supported Mr. Marootian’s nomination in December, since then the office he’s been nominated to lead has proposed stove efficiency rules that I’ve raised concerns about,” Mr. Manchin stated. “While I appreciate that these rules would only apply to new stoves, my view is that it’s part of a broader, administration-wide effort to eliminate fossil fuels.”
The revelation is the most recent blow that the Energy Committee chairman has dealt to Mr. Biden’s local weather change agenda amid powerful reelection prospects subsequent yr in a deep purple state, ought to Mr. Manchin select to hunt a 3rd time period.
DOE didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Mr. Marootian, presently an adviser to DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm, was renominated this yr by Mr. Biden after his appointment expired within the final Congress with out affirmation. But since Mr. Marootian was first nominated final yr, DOE has moved to enact effectivity requirements for brand new fuel stoves that will render a minimum of half of present fashions in the marketplace out of compliance.
The department’s proposed guidelines have ignited a firestorm of criticism from Republicans and Mr. Manchin, who accuse the administration of making an attempt to ban the favored equipment utilized by roughly 40% of U.S. households amid well being and environmental issues.
Mr. Manchin vowed final week to oppose any of Mr. Biden‘s EPA nominees over separate proposed rules by that agency aimed at slashing emissions from oil and natural gas power plants that he characterized as the administration’s newest effort “to kill the fossil industry.”
Ms. Granholm defended the proposed range guidelines earlier than a House committee final week, saying she was merely following the legislation that periodically requires a reexamination of equipment rules.
“The Department of Energy is not banning any gas stoves, we are doing our duty to make sure that appliances are more energy efficient as we are required to do under the Energy Policy Conservation Act of 1975,” Ms. Granholm advised lawmakers. “Nobody’s taking my gas stove, nobody will take your gas stove. But in the future, gas stoves that are high-end — which is all that we looked at — can be more efficient.”
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