01/27/2012
CoA’s Dan Epstein Joins Martha Zoller Show to Discuss Case Against the Dept. of Energy
Dan Epstein – Martha Zoller Show, Jan 27, 2012
Dan Epstein, Executive Director of Cause of Action joined The Martha Zoller Show to discuss the lawsuit filed against the Department of Energy that could threaten jobs and costs consumers millions of dollars.
01/27/2012
The Daily Caller: Heating and AC distributors file petition against Energy Dept.
Read the full story here. Daily Caller
“Cause of Action, representing HARDI, however, claims that the new standards will result in the loss of nearly 17,000 jobs, $7 million in lost wages and that the elderly will be disproportionately affected because they will not be able to recover the costs associated with purchasing more expensive yet energy efficient appliances.
The group is seeking judicial intervention on the grounds that the DOE did not follow proper procedures when adopting the so-called direct final rule, mandating the regional standards.”
01/24/2012
CoA Holds Dept. of Energy Accountable for Ignoring Procedure
Cause of Action, on behalf of Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) filed a petition to intervene in a lawsuit against the Department of Energy for refusing to follow protocol and breaking procedure. The Department of Energy issued a rule that will drive up costs for distributors, installers, and consumers of heating and air conditioning products across the United States. Refusing to acknowledge properly filed comments and concerns from HARDI, the Department of Energy issued new energy efficiency standards set to go into effect May 2013. Cause of Action took up HARDI’s case in the U.S. Court of Appeals to hold the Department of Energy accountable for ignoring procedure and inflicting job-killing regulation on the heating and air industry.
See the filed petition here and the full press release here.
(Image source: Flickr user OversightandReform)
01/23/2012
CoA Files Petition on Behalf of HARDI Against the Department of Energy
Cause of Action Files Petition on Behalf of HARDI Against Department of Energy
DOE Oversteps Its Rule-making Bounds Causing Financial Consequences for Heating and Air Businesses and Customers
WASHINGTON – Cause of Action filed a petition on January 20 in the U.S. Court of Appeals on behalf of the Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) in response to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) abuse of the regulatory process and overreach of authority which resulted in a rogue decision to impose unreasonable energy efficiency standards on distributors, installers, and users of residential heating and cooling products in the United States.
Acting outside of its purview, the DOE not only ignored concerns from HARDI about these rule changes, but sidestepped the proper established rule-making procedures, instead choosing to dictate a rule without regard for its serious financial consequences.
Cause of Action, a non-partisan organization dedicated to attacking waste, fraud, mismanagement and corruption in the federal government, took on this issue on behalf of HARDI out of recognition of the abuse of power being demonstrated by the DOE, and the potential precedent this could set for federal agencies.
“The Department of Energy is turning a deaf ear toward American businesses and choosing to enact rules with no regard for proper procedure,” said Dan Epstein, Executive Director of Cause of Action. “Cause of Action chose to intervene on behalf of HARDI and the thousands of Americans they represent against this act of government abuse of power. We urge the Court of Appeals to examine the unprecedented harm the Department of Energy is enacting on businesses and consumers around the country, and ask them to rein in this agency.”
For HARDI, their actions and opposition to the DOE on this issue have been evident since 2008, yet the DOE consistently ignored them.
“For years HARDI members have been discussing regional standards, then the consensus agreement, and now the potential impact of the Department of Energy’s direct final rule on our industry,” said HARDI President, Bud Mingledorff. “Over the last several weeks alone, four individual votes were cast among varying levels of HARDI’s membership leaders, each of whom unanimously determined joining this litigation was the right thing to do.”
HARDI joins the American Public Gas Association (APGA) who has previously filed a petition on the matter with the Court of Appeals.
For more information or to speak with Jon Melchi, Director of Government Affairs of HARDI, or Dan Epstein, Executive Director of Cause of Action, contact Mary Beth Hutchins, 202-587-5880, mary.beth.hutchins@causeofaction.org.
About HARDI:
Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) represents more than 460 wholesale companies and 300 manufacturing associates as well as nearly 125 manufacturer representatives. HARDI members represent an estimated 85 percent of the dollar value of the HVACR products sold through distribution.
About Cause of Action:
Cause of Action is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that uses public advocacy and legal reform tools to ensure greater transparency in government, protect taxpayer interests and promote economic freedom. For more information, visit www.causeofaction.org.
To see the motion to intervene filed by Cause of Action, click here.
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12/12/2011
Department of Energy
FOIA request to the Department of Energy regarding use of funds under the Energy Policy Act
10/31/2011
Cause of Action Investigates Department of Energy Grants
Cause of Action filed a Freedom of Information Act request today with the Department of Energy in an effort to learn how the Department awards grants. In its request, Cause of Action attorneys noted that since 2009 the DOE has committed over $36 billion in financing for loans or loan guarantees, and information recently learned about the Solyndra affair has raised concern over how those grants were awarded:
In addition to Solyndra, several other companies have received billions of dollars in loan guarantees from DOE to build renewable energy infrastructure. As with Solyndra, many individuals in key positions within these corporations have made political contributions to the President or the Democratic Party, raising the concern that these loan guarantees may have been granted through preferential treatment or undue influence – and therefore not to stimulate shovel-ready jobs.
Cause of Action believes the public has a right to understand how and why its tax-dollars are being spent.
Image courtesy of Flickr user zackgrahamEE.