EDITORIAL: Biden administration embraces the flat hair look

What was once the province of a “Seinfeld” sendoff is now real life in D.C.

Aficionados of the 1990’s hit comedy will remember the episode in which the superintendent of Jerry’s building installs low-flow showerheads in the units. The resultant flat-hair disaster leads Kramer to track down some shady characters peddling black-market Yugoslavian devices. Kramer settles on a powerful head designed to hose down elephants. We’ll leave it at that.

The episode came to mind last week when the Biden administration announced that it plans to rescind a Trump-era rule easing previous federal limits on how much water may legally pass through a showerhead. It’s true: There is virtually no aspect of American life in which the administrative state has chosen not to meddle. Remember the controversy when U.S. regulators in 2007 moved to phase out the incandescent lightbulb?

The shower regulation — like its lightbulb counterpart — was implemented under the guise of environmental efficiency. It was first proposed almost 30 years ago and mandates that showerheads sold in the United States emit no more than 2.5 gallons of water each minute. It did, however, allow for multi-headed products to hit the threshold on each separate showerhead.

But that loophole fell victim to the Obama administration, which decided that 2.5 gallons per minute was the maximum flow no matter how many different heads a device used. That edict lasted until 2020, when Donald Trump’s Department of Energy freed the showerheads once again. Until now.

“As many parts of America experience historic droughts,” a DOE spokesperson told The Associated Press about the new regulation, “this commonsense proposal means consumers can purchase showerheads that conserve water and save them money on their utility bills.”

Of course, if consumers wanted to buy low-flow showerheads. they’ve always been free to do so. The Biden move is hardly a victory for choice.

Water conservation is indeed vital in many parts of the country — including Las Vegas — where the resource is relatively scarce. But local building codes, market pricing and landscaping rules would seem more appropriate tools to ensure water savings than a one-size-fits-all national order from Washington.

It’s worth remembering that the same 1992 regulation on showerheads also mandated low-flow toilets, which forced many users to flush twice, thus eradicating the water savings. In addition, that federal intervention created a thriving gray-market between Detroit and Windsor, Canada, involving coveted high-flush toilets. No kidding.

Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld left it to the imagination whether Kramer also upgraded to a 3.5-gallon toilet after experimenting with his turbo-showerhead. That was a wise move.