White House deletes thousands of webpages about energy conservation as heatwave slams US
www.theverge.com
It follows Republican outrage over Mamdani offering the same heatwave advice as everyone else.

It follows Republican outrage over Mamdani offering the same heatwave advice as everyone else.

The US Department of Energy reportedly deleted about 6,000 pages related to energy conservation as a historic heatwave tears across the country.

The deletion was suspiciously timed, following Republican outrage over Mayor Zohran Mamdani asking New Yorkers to help reduce strain on the grid by setting their AC to 78 degrees. Republicans like Ted Cruz (who has famously fled severe weather in his home state), Nikki Haley, and Representative Nancy Mace (South Carolina) quickly pounced, framing the request as socialism and an act of war on women in menopause (the Republican Party is notoriously friendly to women’s health).

Of course, this is pretty standard advice during a heatwave. It was the official stance of the Department of Energy that Americans should set their thermostats between 75 and 78 degrees, and Republican governors in deep red states like Texas have issued the same advice in the past — including current governor Greg Abbott.

  • betanumerus@lemmy.caEnglish
    1·
    5 days ago

    The Oil & Gas Party wants you to buy more oil & gas. This government isn’t working for American, it’s funnelling American money to those who invest in oil & gas.

  • sol6_vi@lemmy.makearmy.io
    1·
    5 days ago

    So I don’t get chewed out: obviously energy conservation is important and obviously taking these pages down is a bad thing. That said all this government telling me to be hot for the greater good pisses me off when no ones been arrested from the Epstein files and we aren’t taxing the rich and were still building data centers.

    To me this feels like someone telling me climate change is my fault because I threw out a water bottle or drive an ICE vehicle. Like ya someday I’ll get an electric car and I should have recycled the bottle but wtf. So many larger more massive issues with energy conservation at larger scales than me running the AC at 70.

    • MrVilliam@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      5 days ago

      I made the switch from ICE to EV a couple months ago, and it wasn’t really even about climate change. It’s just cheaper and more convenient in terms of fueling, and there’s far less maintenance to keep on top of. It just no longer makes sense to choose ICE (usually) if you already need a new vehicle, can charge at home, and don’t drive more than like 200 miles per day. I just did a road trip in it last month and it really only made the journey maybe 5-10% longer than if I used an ICE vehicle since we needed to stop for food and bathrooms anyway.

      Recycling plastic is almost completely a lie. Very few recycling plants can recycle your water bottle, and it’s incredibly wasteful and costly even if they can. The better choice is to not buy plastic water bottles in the first place, and if you do then reuse them several times, but also you’re just a drop in the bucket compared to industries’ waterfalls, so don’t beat yourself up about it when you’re not perfect.

    • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      1·
      5 days ago

      It doesn’t even have to be about climate change. It’s also about balancing the electrical load of everyone in NYC blasting their AC at once. So they don’t have brown and blackouts

  • ms.lane@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    5 days ago

    78f is roughly 26c, which the recommendation here in Australia during summer. I usually have mine set to 30c/86f.

    I don’t understand what the issue with Mamdani’s advice is.

    • Archelon@lemmy.world
      1·
      5 days ago

      In the mindset of the contrarian reactionary, it doesn’t matter what the advice is but rather that it’s being given at all.

      • Fedizen@lemmy.world
        1·
        5 days ago

        He gave the same recommendation as the federal DOE. The sad part is this is the federal government following Fox News’ lead. Literally fox news is rewriting government messaging.

  • Pyr@lemmy.ca
    1·
    5 days ago

    Wonder how long before Trump renames it “Department of burning Oil and Coal”

      • Optional@lemmy.world
        0·
        5 days ago

        Look around! Clearly everyone made the right decision!

        And i’ll tell ya this for nothin’ - they’ll do it again! Yeah! And get all this glorious fascism for free. Enjoy!

  • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    1·
    6 days ago

    I have officially rounded the corner where everything is so insane my first reaction was to laugh at how absurd this is.

    Literally everything they do is the worst possible choice. They literally want to burn down the world and rule over the ashes, even if they don’t understand that’s where this is headed.

    I don’t think humanity is gonna make it. Too many of us refuse to engage with reality and evidence.

    • TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      5 days ago

      reality and evidence are painful. people avoid pain.

      fantasy and magical thinking feels good. so they embrace it.

      IME maybe like 1/20 people is grounded in a greater reality, most are living in a fictional magical world and only want to be around other people who support their fantasies.

      • Phantaloons@piefed.zipEnglish
        1·
        2 days ago

        fantasy and magical thinking feels good. so they embrace it.

        Like the: “Luigi will save us with our army of guillotines” bullshit

  • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
    01·
    5 days ago

    heatwave

    Or ‘heat wave’, if you write English and lament the wordjoining thekids aredoing.