Remember those low-flow shower heads?
In fact, you probably have some in your house.
But, evil of evils, some people have been getting away with shower heads that don't meet government requirements.
In its on-going effort to save the planet (from what?) the government is going to crack down on shower heads. The Wall Street Journal has the story (sub probably required):
Regulators are going after some of the luxury shower fixtures that took off in the housing boom. Many have multiple nozzles, cost thousands of dollars and emit as many as 12 gallons of water a minute. In May, the [Department of Energy] DOE stunned the plumbing-products industry when it said it would adopt a strict definition of the term "showerhead" in enforcing standards that have been on the books—but largely unenforced—for nearly 20 years.
That means restricting shower heads to 2.5 gallons per minute flow.
"Did Congress limit consumer choice? Absolutely," the DOE's Mr. Harris says. "When you waste water, you waste energy." Each multi-head shower fixture uses an extra 40 to 80 thermal units of energy per year, equivalent to 50 gallons of gasoline, or one barrel of oil, he says.
In other words: if you want to pay extra to have an extra nice shower head that puts out more than 2.5 gallons per minute, you can't. You have no choice. The government has spoken and you shall obey. So even if you can afford a 12 gallon per minute shower head, you are not allowed one.
Well, at least it's not fatal like CAFE standards. Which also limits your choice in automobiles. As the WSJ reports:
The showdown is a challenge to President Barack Obama and his energy secretary, Steven Chu, as they try to cajole—or compel—Americans to use water and energy more efficiently. Mr. Chu, a self-described "zealot" for energy efficiency, says he crawls around in his attic in his spare time installing extra insulation.
If Mr. Chu wishes to be a "zealot" he should not be in government. This is just typical of command and control leftist government that wants to run your life for the betterment of . . . whatever they want. "First they came for the shower heads . . ."
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