Since being established in 1992 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Energy Star program has delivered one of the greatest environmental, public health and consumer success stories in U.S. history. It has helped families save money, cut climate pollution, improve air quality, and made appliances more efficient – simply by helping people make smarter choices about the products they use every day. Utility companies, manufacturers and retailers have used the Energy Star program to market efficient products and set energy efficiency incentive programs.
However, this critical program is on the chopping block.
Current administration officials recently announced to their staff that Energy Star would be eliminated. This move would gut one of the most effective and bipartisan tools for fighting climate change, improving public health and lowering household energy bills. This isn’t just bad policy – it’s a direct assault on public health, consumer choice, and environmental progress.
We cannot afford to let this happen.
What is Energy Star?
The roots of Energy Star go back to the early 1990s with the EPA’s Green Lights Program. The idea was forward-thinking for the time: encourage organizations such as businesses, governments and schools to voluntarily upgrade their lighting systems to more energy-efficient options. Participants were asked to install efficient lighting in at least 90% of their spaces over five years—but only if it made financial sense and didn’t compromise lighting quality.
This initiative laid the groundwork for something bigger. In 1992, the program evolved into what we now know as Energy Star and has since grown to cover more than 60 product categories, becoming the gold standard for energy-saving products and practices. Supported by businesses, utility companies and millions of households, Energy Star and the now-iconic blue label is a key pillar of U.S. energy policy.
The Benefits: Real Savings, Cleaner Air and a Healthier Climate
Energy Star isn’t just a label—it’s a powerful tool for saving money, cutting pollution and protecting public health. Since its launch, the program has helped American families and businesses save over $500 billion on energy bills, thanks to products that use less energy than standard models. These savings are especially meaningful for low- and moderate-income households, who often spend a higher portion of their income on utilities. But the benefits don’t stop at cost savings.
By reducing energy consumption, Energy Star also slashes greenhouse gas emissions—preventing more than 400 million metric tons of carbon pollution in 2022 alone, which is on par with taking 100 coal-fired power plants offline for a year. These reductions are critical for slowing the pace of climate change and protecting communities from extreme weather and health-harming pollution that’s made worse by warmer temperatures.
At the same time, using less energy means generating less pollution from fossil fuel–based power, resulting in cleaner air and fewer harmful pollutants like nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. That’s a win for public health, leading to fewer asthma attacks, respiratory illnesses and heart disease—especially in communities located near power plants or busy roads.
A Program We Can Trust – And One We’re About to Lose
Manufacturers, homebuilders, building owners, small businesses and consumers across the country recognize and trust the Energy Star label. The trust isn’t arbitrary – it’s earned through science-backed standards, independent verification, and administration by the Environmental Protection Agency. Over the years, this trust has created a powerful market signal, encouraging manufacturers to compete by designing better, more efficient products.
But now, this trusted program is under threat, so much so that nearly 1,100 companies and organizations last month urged the EPA to maintain full funding and staffing levels in the Energy Star program. If Energy Star funding is eliminated, we won’t just lose a familiar label – we’ll lose a national system of accountability that has shaped energy policy not only in the U.S., but globally. Without it, we risk opening the floodgates to cheap, inefficient products that undercut quality and reverse decades of environmental and consumer protection progress.
At a moment when climate impacts are intensifying and the need for smarter energy use has never been more urgent, eliminating energy efficiency programs is a dangerous step backwards. We’re beginning to see the damage regulatory rollbacks can cause, with proposed weakened standards for appliances like dishwashers, furnaces, and tankless water heaters. Eliminating Energy Star would make those losses permanent and erase one of our most effective tools for reducing emissions, lowering utility bills, and safeguarding public health.
However, it’s not too late – we have a choice. If enough of us speak out, we can stop this short-sighted move. Here’s how you can help advocate to protect and fully fund the Energy Star program:
- Contact your members of Congress and urge them to protect and fully fund Energy Star
- Choose Energy Star-certified products when replacing appliances, renovating, or building new homes
- Share this message and help others understand the real-world benefits of energy efficiency
The stakes are simply too high to stay silent. Eliminating Energy Star would be a needless, harmful setback – and one we can prevent. Now it’s up to all of us to ensure it endures.
Read our full statement on recent attacks to energy efficiency programs.
Blog last updated: May 19, 2025
