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This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Buried deep within the minutiae of federal regulation is a seemingly tiny policy switch that, if flicked, would dramatically raise the energy efficiency standard for new homes. Such a move would save homeowners thousands of dollars on their energy bills and nudge the country toward its climate goals. But, after months of waiting to see whether the government would indeed flip it, eight Democratic Senators have grown impatient and, on Monday, implored regulators to act.

“We urge you to move quickly to adopt modern energy standards for new homes,” read a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency that was provided exclusively to Grist. The little-known independent entity oversees Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the country’s two largest backers of mortgages, and has the authority to mandate minimum energy standards for those programs—which cover hundreds of thousands of new home purchases each year. This breadth means that any FHFA benchmark would effectively become a de facto national standard.

Currently, though, the agency has no efficiency standard at all, and the senators—including Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts—want that to change. Instituting minimum requirements, they said, “will support a stable, efficient housing market by reducing wasted energy, improving health outcomes, and lowering costs for both renters and homeowners across the country.” Establishing guidelines will also reduce planet-warming emissions and, they note,........

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