LONG-STANDING CONCERN IN CIRCLES, WATER REGULATION.
NBC POLITICAL REPORTER ALLEN
SMITH
SMITH SMITH EXPLAINS.
SMITH EXPLAINS. >> Reporter: IN DECEMBER
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP RAISED
EYEBROWS WHEN HE TOLD REPORTERS
HE HAD ORDERED HIS EPA TO
STRONGLY LOOK INTO SINKS,
SHOWERS, QUOTE, OTHER ELEMENTS.
>> THE BATHROOM.
YOU TURN THE FAUCET ON AND AREAS
WHERE THERE’S TREMENDOUS AMOUNTS
OF WATER, WHERE THE WATER RUSHES
OUT TO SEA BECAUSE YOU COULD
NEVER HANDLE IT AND YOU DON’T
GET ANY WATER.
THEY TAKE A SHOWER, WATER COMES
DRIPPING OUT.
DRIPPING OUT. IT’S DRIPPING OUT VERY QUIETLY
DRIPPING OUT.
DRIPPING OUT. SO EPA IS LOOKING AT THAT VERY
STRONGLY.
STRONGLY. AT MY SUGGESTION.
>> Reporter: NOW, THESE
COMMENTS, THEY DREW A LOT OF
ATTENTION ONLINE.
ATTENTION ONLINE. SOME FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE SIMPLY
ENTERTAINED THAT THE PRESIDENT
WAS SPEAKING ABOUT THIS AND
OTHERS WHO WERE SOMEWHAT
SURPRISED AT WHAT HAD BROUGHT
THIS TO THE PRESIDENT’S
ATTENTION.
ATTENTION. WHY HE WAS FOCUSING ON IT,
PARTICULARLY AS THIS
HIGH-PROFILE IMPEACHMENT
HIGH-PROFILE IMPEACHMENT INVESTIGATION WAS ONGOING.
>> YOU OPEN IT UP --
>> Reporter: NOW AT A RALLY JUST
A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER,
ACTUALLY THE EXACT RALLY THAT
TOOK PLACE MOMENTS AFTER THE
HOUSE FORMALLY VOTED TO IMPEACH
HIM, THE PRESIDENT WENT ON A
MUCH MORE EXTENDED RANT ABOUT
THIS TOPIC.
THIS TOPIC. >> YOU REMEMBER THE DISHWASHER,
YOU PRESS IT, BOOM, THERE’D BE
LIKE AN EXPLOSION.
FIVE MINUTES LATER, YOU OPEN IT
UP, THE STEAM POURS OUT.
NOW YOU PRESS IT 12 TIMES.
WOMEN TELL ME, AGAIN, YOU KNOW,
THEY GIVE YOU FOUR DROPS OF
WATER.
WATER. >> Reporter: THE REALITY IS
THERE IS AN UNDERPINNING TO THIS
ARGUMENT AND IT’S BEEN A
LIBERTARIAN WAR THAT HAS GONE ON
FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS NOW.
WHILE THE PRESIDENT ISN’T QUITE
SO ELOQUENT IN DISCUSSING THE
TOPIC, HE IS TALKING ABOUT WATER
REGULATIONS THAT WERE SIGNED
INTO LAW BY PRESIDENTS GEORGE H.
W. BUSH AND PRESIDENT CLINTON IN
THE EARLY ’90s THAT LIMIT HOW
MUCH WATER CAN BE USED IN NEW
TOILETS, COMING OUT OF FAUCET
HEADS BOTH FOR SHOWERS AND SINKS
AND LIBERTARIANS HAVE ARGUED
THAT THESE REGULATIONS CAUSE THE
PRODUCTS TO BE VIRTUALLY
UNUSABLE, THAT NO WATER ISLE TO
COMING OUT AND USERS ARE
FRUSTRATED AND HAVE TO USE THE
SHOWER OR FLUSH THE TOILET
MULTIPLE TIMES, THEREFORE
ELIMINATING THE INTENDED
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT, THE WATER
CONSERVATION BENEFIT, OF THOSE
REGULATIONS.
REGULATIONS. NOW, OF COURSE,
ENVIRONMENTALISTS DISAGREE WITH
THAT PREMISE ENTIRELY AND THEY
SAY WHAT THE PRESIDENT AND SOME
OF HIS LIBERTARIAN-MINDED
BACKERS BELIEVE WITH REGARD TO
THIS IS JUST UTTER NONSENSE.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO FLUSH THE
TOILET TEN TIMES, EVEN AS SOME
OF THE PRESIDENT’S SUPPORTERS
WILL ADMIT AND DISHWASHERS ARE
WORKING JUST FINE.
THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY LAST
YEAR HELD AN OPEN PETITION TO
TAKE COMPLAINTS REGARDING
DISHWASHER PERFORMANCE AND THE
GOAL IS, THE ENERGY DEPARTMENT
HAS HINTED AT, IS CREATING A NEW
CLASS OF DISHWASHERS TO
CIRCUMVENT SOME OF THE EXISTING
STANDARDS FOR THOSE APPLIANCES.
THEY HAVEN’T SAID WHETHER THAT’S
SOMETHING THEY’RE GOING TO DO,
BUT THEY HAVE SAID THAT THEY’RE
UNDERTAKING A REVIEW OF THOSE
ITEMS AS THE PRESIDENT HAD
HINTED TO LAST MONTH.
GOAL IS THE ENERGY DEPARTMENT HAS HINTED AT IS CREATING A NEW
CLASS OF DISHWASHERS TO
CIRCUMVENT SOME OF THE EXISTING
STANDARDS FOR THOSE APPLIANCES.
THEY HAVEN’T SAID WHETHER THAT’S
SOMETHING THEY’RE GOING TO DO,
BUT THEY HAVE SAID THAT THEY’RE
UNDERTAKING A REVIEW OF THOSE
ITEMS AS THE PRESIDENT HAD
HINTED TO LAST MONTH.
AND ON ONE LAST NIGHT, ONE OF
THE PRESIDENT’S BIGGER
SUPPORTERS IN THE SENATE, RAND
PAUL, TEN YEARS AGO HE FAMOUSLY
LAMENTED AT A HEARING, GRILLING
A TOP OBAMA ENERGY DEPARTMENT
OFFICIAL THAT THEY HAD NO RIGHT
TO TELL HIM WHAT PRODUCTS HE
COULD INSTALL IN HIS BATHROOM
AND THAT HONESTLY, THE TOILETS
IN HIS HOME DON’T EVEN WORK.
SO THE LINE OF THOUGHT THAT THE
PRESIDENT WAS SPEAKING TO AT A
COUPLE OF MOMENTS IN THE LAST
MONTH WAS ONE THAT RAND PAUL
HIMSELF HAD MENTIONED ALMOST TEN
FULL YEARS AGO AT THIS POINT.
SENATOR PAUL’S OFFICE DECLINED
TO MAKE HIM AVAILABLE TO SPEAK
WITH ME FOR A STORY ON THIS
SUBJECT, BUT SOURCES I DID SPEAK