Evaluating the costs and benefits of appliance - efficiency standards
基于现有实证证据，质疑强制性家电能效标准能提高经济效率或显著减少能源消耗，并指出其可能降低经济效率甚至增加能源使用，建议优先采用消费者信息项目。
The available empirical evidence does not provide a very convincing case that mandatory appliance-efficiency standards will increase economic efficiency or reduce energy consumption significantly. There is a real chance that such standards could actually reduce economic efficiency and possibly lead to an increase in energy use. A broader use of programs to provide consumers with better information seems to represent the most-productive short-run strategy. Consumer education would not only help to improve decisions, but it will also provide time to better assess consumer behavior, allow the market to reveal the technical and economic possibilities for appliance-efficiency improvements, and ultimately allow public policies to be based on more than guesswork. 12 references.