What Energy Star is: If you’ve shopped for a dishwasher, light fixture, or other household appliance recently, you likely spotted a small blue logo with a white star on many of the products, indicating that the appliance meets government standards for energy efficiency. This logo is the emblem of Energy Star, a joint program of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency, allowing shoppers to identify ecofriendly products that burn less electricity than their competitors. Energy Star is a voluntary labeling program that encourages efficiency by producers, retailers, and consumers on everything from vending machines to light bulbs to entire homes. Founded in 1992, the program emphasizes a market-based approach to environmentalism that makes it popular with manufacturers and consumers alike. As it boasts on its website, Energy Star has helped companies and individuals save more than $362 billion on utility bills and prevented the discharge of over 2.4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases in the past 22 years.

Energy Star’s clear standards for efficiency reassure consumers that they’re getting what they pay for, says Bill Hoelzer, communications manager at GreenSavers. The Portland contracting business was a winner of Energy Star’s Contractor of the Year award in both 2016 and 2017 for its work in home-energy performance.

“Energy Star has a phenomenal brand recognition. They’ve done so much to support efficient technologies, and I think that the average person recognizes that. So when they see that star and they see that Energy Star is supportive of the work that we’re trying to do, that’s just a tremendous benefit to us,” Hoelzer said. 

Status: Energy Star is one of dozens of EPA programs that President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating in his 2018 budget. The agency is facing a 31 percent decrease in funding that could translate to the termination of 25 percent of its staff.

However, the budget is far from finalized and needs to be rubber-stamped by Congress. More than a thousand organizations and businesses signed a letter to Congress in April to demonstrate their support for Energy Star. Sustained pressure from the business industry could persuade Congress to spare the program. 

Why it’s at risk: Energy efficiency is a win-win-win for companies, consumers, and the environment. So why is Energy Star on the chopping block? Trump’s budget justifies the elimination as one of many “not essential” programs that can be “implemented by the private sector” in order to reduce government spending. With a 2017 budget of $66 million, federal spending on Energy Star makes up just over one-tenth of one percent of Trump’s proposed $52 billion increase in the military budget. 

Who loses when efficiency is rewarded? Only those whose companies can’t keep up. As CNN recently reported, only 4 out of 15 of Trump’s skyscrapers in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago—cities that require building owners to report their energy use through Energy Star—ranked above a 50 out of 100 on efficiency. Three properties scored below 10. Buildings that advertise energy efficiency tend to command higher property values than their competitors.

What happens if Trump shoots down Energy Star? Hoelzer disagrees with the administration’s assessment that the program could be sufficiently replaced by private companies. “There will always be a question of who benefits, of what incentives do they have,” he said. “That public accountability is really critical.”