WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Tuesday overturned a rule, announced
early in the Bush administration, that would have weakened the Clinton
administration's energy efficiency standard for home air conditioners.
The ruling was the latest blow to White House efforts to ease regulations that
businesses consider too burdensome. Courts in recent months temporarily blocked
a new rule that would exempt companies from installing modern air-pollution
controls when modifying factories and power plants in ways that would increase
emissions, and reinstated a Clinton administration ban on snowmobiles in
Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
California was among a coalition of states, environmental organizations and
consumer groups that went to court seeking to restore the stricter rules for
home central air conditioners and heat pumps. In California, residential air
conditioners account for about 17% of electricity consumption in ...