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Executive capture

Regulatory Demolition: The Death of Energy Star

Terminated
Case Dossier EXC-REG-001
STATUS
Terminated
SEVERITY
High
DATE
2025-05-06
DOMAIN
Executive Capture
SUBDOMAIN
Regulatory Sabotage
CAPTURE VECTOR
Regulatory demolition
TAGS
epa energy-star deregulation union-busting scientific-integrity lee-zeldin
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Under the guise of reorganization, the EPA eliminates the Office of Atmospheric Protection and the Energy Star program—a voluntary initiative saving consumers $500 billion—while simultaneously barring union representatives from meetings and dispersing scientists to dilute their influence.

Summary

In May 2025, EPA managers announced the elimination of the Energy Star program and the Office of Atmospheric Protection. Energy Star, a voluntary labeling program created in 1992, had saved American consumers over $500 billion in utility costs and prevented 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Despite pleas from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and manufacturers to save the “effective non-regulatory program,” the administration moved to “deprioritize and eliminate” all climate work not explicitly required by statute.

Capture Mechanisms

1. Governance by Sabotage

The elimination of Energy Star defies economic logic. The program costs a mere $32 million to run but delivers $40 billion in annual savings to consumers. Its destruction contradicts the administration’s stated goal of reducing household costs and addressing an “energy emergency” where demand is expected to spike 50% by 2040.

  • The Logic: This is negative governance. The state is acting to increase energy consumption and consumer costs, benefiting fossil fuel interests and removing market pressure on appliance manufacturers to innovate.

2. Scientific Dispersion & Union Busting

The restructuring goes beyond cutting programs; it targets the agency’s institutional memory and labor power.

  • Dispersion: Scientists are being “dispersed” from independent research offices into other divisions, diluting their ability to conduct autonomous climate science.
  • Exclusion: Marie Owens Powell, president of the EPA’s largest union, was physically and digitally barred from meetings discussing the reorganization, a tactic she labeled “nothing short of union busting.”

Analysis

The death of Energy Star proves that “deregulation” is not about efficiency but about extractive license. When a program is voluntary, popular (90% recognition), profitable for consumers, and supported by industry trade groups, its elimination can only be explained by ideological animus against conservation and a desire to maximize energy consumption. It signals that the EPA’s new mission is not environmental protection, but the facilitation of resource exhaustion.