20 Years of ENERGY STAR
By: Brittney Gordon
Let’s take a little trip back in time to the year 1992. Where were you at that time? I was in the 7
th
grade at Pikesville Middle School in Baltimore County, trying my best
to overcome the awkwardness that comes with the pre-teen years. But
outside of my little world, a lot was happening in this country. For
example:
1.) A gallon of gas cost $1.05
2.) Bill Clinton became the 42
nd President of the United States
3.) The Washington Redskins won the Super Bowl
4.) Jack Nicolson taught us all that Tom Cruise could not “handle the truth” in
A Few Good Men
5.)
Cheers, Roseanne and
Murphy Brown were on TV
Yep, a lot happened in 1992, including the labeling of the first
ENERGY STAR qualified product—a computer. Fast forward 20 years and
EPA’s ENERGY STAR label can now be found on products in more than 65
different categories, with more than five billion qualified products
sold over the past two decades. In that time over 1.3 million new homes,
and tens of thousands of facilities now proudly carry the ENERGY STAR
certification, using dramatically less energy and producing
substantially less greenhouse gas emissions than their peers.
Back in the early days,
those here at EPA had no idea how influential
this program would become over time. We conceptualized ENERGY STAR as a
way to help American consumers and businesses make energy efficient
choices, with the goal of reducing pollution in our air and protecting
our health and the environment. EPA saw an opportunity to harness the
forces of the market to meet those goals in a way that would save people
money and give consumers more choices. It was a pretty tall order, but
today
ENERGY STAR is one of the most well known brands in the country,
with over
80 percent of Americans recognizing it as the symbol of
superior energy efficiency. Over the past 20 years, Americans with help
from ENERGY STAR, have saved a total of nearly $230 billion on utility
bills and prevented more than 1.7 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas
emissions.
Here at ENERGY STAR we know that much of the success of this program
is due to the diligence of the American people, who have made protecting
the climate an important goal in their everyday lives. We thank you for
your commitment and hope that you will continue to grow with us.
For more information on ENERGY STAR’s 20
th anniversary, check out our
website. To take a video ride through ENERGY STAR’s history, click
here.
Brittney Gordon is a member of EPA’s ENERGY STAR communications
team. She began working for EPA in 2010 after a career in television
news.
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