The House on Tuesday approved a bill that aims to make it harder for the Energy Department to enact energy efficiency rules for household appliances — the latest effort by Republicans related to such appliances.
The vote was 212-195, with seven Democrats voting with Republicans in favor of the measure. The bill would add hurdles to creating new appliance standards and make it easier to repeal existing standards.
Republicans have repeatedly criticized Democrats for their efforts to make appliances more energy efficient, but the legislation is unlikely to move beyond the lower house.
The issue exploded last year after a member of the Consumer Product Safety Commission proposed a ban on gas stoves. However, the head of the independent commission and the White House have said they do not want to ban gas stoves.
However, the backlash may have had an impact – the Department of Energy’s final stove efficiency standards ended up being watered down.
Zack Budryk contributed.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
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