In their continuing
quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, state regulators have uncovered a new villain in the war on global warming : your big screen TV
Couch potatoes, beware.
The
California Energy Commission is considering a proposal that would ban California retailers from selling all but the most energy-efficient televisions. Critics say the news standards could take
25 percent of televisions off the market — most of them
40 inches or larger.
“The larger the television, the more at risk it is of being banned unnecessarily in California,” said
Douglas Johnson, senior director of technology police for the
Consumer Electronics Association.
Association officials say the standards are not only unnecessary – because the federal government already regulates energy efficiency through the voluntary
Energy Star program — but also ill-timed. The last thing our economy needs now is products taken
off the market, they say.
Furthermore, they say that with a weak economy,
consumers are going out less and watching TV more.
“This is really about regulating entertainment, not energy use,” Johnson said.
Poppycock, says the commission. Affordable big screen TVs will still be available under the new standards, spokesman
Adam Gottlieb said. In fact, he said the regulations will save you money.
The commission calculates that if you buy televisions meeting the proposed standards it’ll cut your annual energy use by — drum roll, please —
$18 to $30 per television per year. “I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to save money,” Gottlieb said.
Gottlieb said the commission is exploring the regulations to reduce the strain on the energy grid and to avoid building new power plants. Televisions are the fastest growing consumer appliance in California. Californians are buying bigger TVs, and more of them. If something doesn’t happen, televisions are going to devour a bigger and bigger piece of the state’s power grid, which means we’ll need more power plants.
More power plants mean more greenhouse gas emissions.
“Consumers aren’t aware of the hidden cost of powering these things,” Gottlieb said. Gottlieb insisted that the regulations wouldn’t eliminate big screens from California stores. But the commission’s own
draft report says TV energy use is “proportional to the screen size.” And there’s no doubt the regulations will limit energy use. So if you’re in the market for big screen TV, now might be the time to buy. The regulations are
expected to be approved this summer.
