A Stitch in Haste

I recently blogged about how Congress was contemplating changing Daylight Savings Time to "save" what would have been less than 0.01% of our oil consumption.

Apparently some members of Congress now realize that screwing up the clocks won't be enough to achieve -- well, whatever they're trying to achieve ("energy independence," I suppose).

So now they also want to screw up our ceiling fans:

When the House recently began writing a revised package of energy proposals, Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., wasted no time offering an amendment -- the first out of the block -- that would call for the Energy Department to establish a federal efficiency standard for home ceiling fans.

But Democrats and outside energy efficiency advocates said Deal's measure would pre-empt stronger fan efficiency requirements already approved or being considered in more than half dozen states, calling it a step backward in efforts to curb energy use.

Now Representative Deal is surely a dedicated, objective public servant, no? The Politics of Pull would certainly have nothing to do with his proposal, would it?

Deal's home state is the headquarters of Home Depot, the country's third largest retailer and merchant of half the ceiling fans sold. The company, which has been concerned about states' efforts to impose ceiling fan efficiency standards, lobbied the congressman for federal legislation, pre-empting the states.

Oh. Go figure.