The journey to the current 13 SEER legislation may illustrate more clearly than anything else why this industry and others dislike government interference so intensely.
The road to this new minimum standard involved two administrations, a lot of back-and-forth discussions, posturing, counter-posturing, an edict, reversal of the edict, a new edict, reversal of that edict, and then the final edict. Ironically, the process ended with the same minimum efficiency level proposed in the first place: 13 SEER.