The Trump administration proposed to exempt some light bulbs from new efficiency standards that passed by Obama in January 2017 and many believe the plan will result in extra electricity costs for the U.S. citizen while increase greenhouse gas emission.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) planned to revise definitions of general service lamp (GSL) and general service incandescent lamp (GSIL) and other supplemental definition that adopt the green standards published by Obama. The revised definition will then remove three-way bulbs, candle-shaped bulbs used in chandeliers, reflector bulbs used in recessed lighting, and others from having to comply with the new efficiency standards.
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Several environmental groups revealed their concern towards the proposal, noting that the Trump administration has rolled back several regulations published during Obama-era for managing pollution and carbon emission.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, a U.S.-based environmental NPO, said in the report of Reuters that the changes would lead to extra bill of US$ 12 billion by 2025. Another report by Salon indicated that the proposal would also produce 540 million tons more greenhouse gases by 2030, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The Department of Energy is holding a public meeting on February 28 in Washington regarding the proposal.
The European Union has banned the production and import of halogen bulbs since September 1, 2018 as the final phase of EU energy regulations. In the US, the number of home LED bulbs installation has climbed from 400,000 homes to 78 million homes from 2009 to 2014.