California the First State to Set Efficiency Standards For Flat Screens

Here's a fun fact: televisions and their related accoutrement (cable boxes, DVD players, and the like) account for 2 percent of all energy use in the state of California.

Now, while the "fun-ness" of that may be debatable, the veracity is certainly not. Indeed, Californians buy over 4 million televisions every year, and as technology gets better and better, these TVs are getting bigger and bigger with crazy liquid crystals and plasma and all sorts of things you don't really need to get the full experience of reality television. Anyway, the point: in California, like everywhere else, televisions are burning through a lot of electricity, causing a lot of pollution.

California, however, is doing something about it, and is becoming the first state to impose efficiency standards on large flat-screen TVs. The New York Times reports that the standards, which will come into effect in 2011, will apply to televisions 58 inches or larger.

The rule does not cover televisions currently in use or for sale. But it would require that most television sets sold in California consume 33 percent less electricity by 2011 and 49 percent less by 2013. ... The [California Energy] Commission estimated in a news release that the regulations would save the state over $8 billion in energy costs over 10 years, enough to power 864,000 single-family homes annually.

Eight billion dollars over a decade. And who says California's economy is in trouble? Oh, everyone? Everyone says that? Fine. Anyhow, trade groups representing manufacturers are obviously cheesed, saying that the voluntary Energy Star program is just peachy, thank you very much. But environmentalists say that the Energy Star program didn't cut the mustard, and that the new California standards take the cake.

“It’s going to dramatically reduce carbon dioxide emissions from appliances that people use every day and they still get to watch TV,” said Matthew Lewis, spokesman for ClimateWorks, an energy and climate change policy foundation. “Under a voluntary system, it’s a crap shoot determining how many of the efficient TVs will be purchased.”

So, if you're in California, know that over 1000 models of television already meet the 2011 standards, so you'll still be able to find a new TV in a year and a half. You will, however, be polluting less. Good work.

photo credit: mlinksva's flickr photostream/Creative Commons