U.S. Energy Efficiency Is Sliding Under Trump

Even as New York City co-op and condo boards embrace solar energy, cogeneration systems, water- and energy-use benchmarking, LED lights and other improvements to their buildings’ energy efficiency, the United States has declined in international rankings of energy savers, according to The 2018 International Energy Efficiency Scorecard published by the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

No country came close to a perfect score, and the average remained the same as in 2016 – 51 out of a possible 100 points. Overall, Germany and Italy tie for first place this year with 75.5 points, closely followed by France (73.5), the United Kingdom (73), and Japan (67). Since Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement on climate change, the U.S. has slid from 8th place in 2016 to 10th in 2018 by scoring six fewer points. 

“This trend is likely to persist if the current administration continues to dismantle key regulations,” said Shruti Vaidyanathan, ACEEE’s senior advisor for research. “At imminent risk are joint fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for light-duty vehicles for model years 2021 onwards, a program that put the United States at the forefront of vehicle efficiency efforts.” 

Environmental Protection Agency actions, under the directives of Scott Pruitt, are also threatening heavy-duty vehicle standards, and future improvements to existing appliance standards have ground to a halt. In addition, the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement suggests more rollbacks to come. The administration’s embrace of coal and its focus on energy production rather than efficiency mean that progress on federal energy-efficiency policies has largely stalled. 

This fourth biennial scorecard ranks 25 of the world’s largest energy users on 36 efficiency metrics and highlights best practices countries can use to boost energy savings. Energy efficiency will need to account for almost half of all the greenhouse gas emission reductions necessary through 2040 to limit the global increase in temperature to 2 degrees Celsius, according to the International Energy Agency.