Commentary

By Loyal and Charlotte Baker

We have an old Kenmore washing machine. We think we’ll keep it.

It replaced a Maytag. You know, the one with the lonely repairman, his life ebbing away as he awaits a call that (supposedly) never comes. The Maytag machine would be working to this day, except the circuit board went spitzen-sparken and out the door it went.

Instead of $30 for a belt or $100 for a motor, it was a $500 circuit board that broke.

Newer washing machines from the current generation of California-ized machines are designed to use less water and save the planet, all by their lonesome.

It uses so much less water that one blanket came out in handfuls of fuzz.

So to save water, one must duck under the Thought Police’s gaze and wash everything on extra-large load, extra rinse. Don’t and there’ll be detergent residue to irritate you when wearing that shirt.

Oh, the sacrifices one must make! There’s a war on, y’know.

We also turned our hot-water heater up. The California Energy Police have deemed that too much energy is wasted keeping water hot enough to kill germs. Research shows that turning the heater down to 120° F. doesn’t kill the bacteria that jumps from your body to your socks and t-shirts.

But, wait! We have special detergents for that. Detergents with scent to cover odors that the environmentally minded washing machines won’t rinse out because they’re saving water.

So it goes, ’round and ’round.

We don’t believe consumers demanded that their household appliances bear the responsibilities for saving the planet from mankind and global warming. (The latest term is “climate change.”) People enthusiastically embraced these labor-saving devices to give them more free time for other things. It’s called liberty.

But there you are.

The Washington State Building Code Council has effectively banned natural gas heating in new construction of homes and office buildings in the name of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

After that, the City Council of the People’s Republic of Seattle followed suit, banning natural gas from commercial buildings and some apartment buildings.

They’re crazy.

An independent cost-benefit analysis by the Pacific Northwest National Lab shows that banning natural gas heat will add $6,000 to the cost of new construction, and, of course, that number could easily be doubled by the time the ink dries on this page.

Natural gas is abundant, safe, and sometimes is an economically practical alternative to other heating sources, like oil and electricity.

Our inept governor, Jay Inslee, has had all common sense sucked out of his head as he falls lock-step in with the misguided socialistic environmentalists…the ones whose equation has remove the Lower Snake River dams equals save the orcas.

And now Joe Biden’s Energy Department is taking the washing machine another giant leap backward. Whirlpool and other manufacturers warn that “we face a dirtier, smellier future,” according to the Washington Free Beacon’s report. “Th ore expensive and laundry day a headache–each cycle will take longer, the detergent will cost more, and in the end, the clothes will be less clean.”

Appliance manufacturers will be forced to lay out $700 million to comply with the new regulations and we all know who’ll bear those costs.

Watching the Biden Administration thumb its nose at hard working, tax-paying American citizens, and at the rule of law, is like falling down the stairs in slow motion. We believe Biden is in front of the cameras, but Obama is the man behind the curtain.

Think progressive, liberal politics doesn’t affect you? It does, and insidiously. Without much fanfare, your washing machine, dishwasher and refrigerator now require stuff: a special detergent for low temperatures; mandatory use of a rinse aid in dishwasher, otherwise they won’t operate; and a water filter for the fridge, one that must be replaced every six months or you’ll be reminded to change it by the machine.

And we haven’t even looked at the latest appliances that connect to 5G. Big Brother will be watching you toast your bagel.

“We’re from the government and we’re here to help you.”

Yeah, right!