This looks like fairly breathless, non-critical reporting. (The tagline of Grist is "Climate. Justice. Solutions." which at least implies a motivation for biased reporting.)

The article:

* avoids the question of whether the new washers and dryers will be the same prices as the models they replace.

* does not address whether the new technology will be as reliable as what it replaces or the possibility of additional maintenance costs (extra cleaning, etc.)

* It only quotes what appear to be biased sources (and dismisses opposition as "conservative backlash" and uses the "Fox News" straw man)

My personal experiences with "efficient" appliances have not been positive, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

(minor edits for grammar)