Last week I went to Washington
D.C. and enjoyed a drive-by view
of the cherry blossoms while headed to AHRI’s annual media roundtable and
public policy symposium. I heard a few interesting political tidbits and some
good quotes, and thought I’d share some of the more intriguing ones here.
On the EPA:
“There’s regulation, and then there’s the EPA.”
-Said by a staffer from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (who
said it was his job to fight the EPA every day).
“We may see some retrenching by the EPA administration.”
-Said by an AHRI VP discussing the pushback against EPA
regulations. There are currently three amendments that the Senate may vote on
that focus on curbing the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases.
On New DOE
Regulations:
“We are in favor of saving energy but we are not in favor of
being destroyed.”
- Said by a manufacturer protesting a newly published rule
from the DOE that apparently requires what seems to be an impossible amount of
testing in order to enforce certification for base models.
On Tax Credits:
“Spending is really under the microscope right now.”
- Said by a staffer of Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.,
discussing the possibility of extending the 25C tax credits.
On Dry R-22 Shipping:
“The goal was to not encourage wholesale lose of value of
equipment for the average American. This was the line of thinking.”
- Said by an EPA employee.
On the 2012
Elections:
“Independents are the people who matter. They’re the most
volatile.”
“It’s really unlikely that Republicans will lose their
majority in the House. There’s a very, very high probability the Republicans
will control the House and have a majority in the Senate.”
“People vote their pocketbooks in this country more than
anything else. The rule of thumb is, if unemployment is at or near 9 percent,
this president would have a hard time getting reelected. If unemployment is at
8.2 percent, the Republicans would have a hard time beating him.”
-All said by political analyst Charlie Cook during his keynote
address.
Overheard in D.C.
