A Republican member of Congress has introduced a “Hot Showers Act,” which would block the Joe Biden Administration’s supposed effort to make it harder to take a shower. It is not, alas, something that’s really happening.
Another Joe Biden GOP Rumor Gone Crazy
Amid the possibility of a government shutdown in less than a week, one member of Congress is focused on… showers.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) announced on social media this week that he has introduced a piece of legislation called the Hot Showers Act.
“Biden’s war on everyday appliances is not over. Now, he’s having his bureaucrats come after your water heater,” Rep. Ogles said in the post. “I introduced the Hot Showers Act to require the Department of Energy to stop its climate tyranny and allow the free market to dictate the price of appliances, not woke energy elitists.”
The legislation is in response to a proposed Department of Energy regulation which would set “Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Water Heaters.”
“Joe Biden’s climate crusade has gone too far. He has weaponized the federal rulemaking process to place non-electric technology off the market artificially. When it seemed like prices couldn’t get any higher, this rule continues that trend and bankrupts consumers even more.” Rep. Ogles said in a press release about the legislation. “I will always fight against any ‘Green New Deal’ directive that actively targets consumers and puts America last. Dealing with big government is stressful enough, and a good cure for those woes is a long hot shower. But, like most good things, Joe Biden wants to take that away from you too.”
The Green New Deal was a piece of legislation introduced by some Democratic members of Congress back in 2019, but it was never endorsed by Biden, nor was it ever enacted, and the conservation standard has nothing to do with the Green New Deal.
The Daily Beast, furthermore, described the regulation in question as a “a federal energy conservation measure for new water heaters that would not take effect until five years after final approval.”
Former President Donald Trump has long been known to riff in his live speeches about low-flow shower heads, and sometimes about how water pressure is necessary for him to effectively wash his hair. In late 2020, the Trump Administration eased standards when it came to regulations on shower heads and washers and dryers, although the Biden Administration reversed that the following year.
The Washington Post reported at the time that the change was “unlikely to affect the shower head market.”
“This was a silly loophole from the beginning, and the department was right to fix it,” Andrew deLaski, the Appliance Standards Awareness Project’s executive director, told the Post at the time. “The good news is there was no clamoring for products that took advantage of this, and we can put this whole episode in the past.”
The shower head issue and hot water heater one are separate regulations.
This was sort of similar to the nonsense back in August about supposed effort by Biden to regulate how much beer Americans can drink.
This resulted from the head of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) giving an interview stating that it was under consideration to adjust the government’s guideline when it comes to how many drinks Americans should consume per week.
The current guidelines state that women consume “one bottle of beer, a small glass of wine or shot of spirit a day,” while men are advised to consume two, and the recommendation is up for review in 2025.
But it is just that- a recommendation, and not a law or mandate. The government is not, in fact, planning to enforce the number of drinks Americans can consume.
This was described in some media outlets as the “Biden beer ban,” even though it would have done nothing close to that. It appeared another culture war about beer was in the offing, but the story quickly petered out.
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Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Stephen has authored thousands of articles over the years that focus on politics, technology, and the economy for over a decade. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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