Nine states are teaming up to accelerate adoption of this climate-friendly device.

Death is coming for the old-school gas furnace—and its killer is the humble heat pump. They’re already outselling gas furnaces in the US, and now a coalition of states has signed an agreement to supercharge the gas-to-electric transition by making it as cheap and easy as possible for their residents to switch.

Nine states have signed a memorandum of understanding that says that heat pumps should make up at least 65 percent of residential heating, air conditioning, and water-heating shipments by 2030. (“Shipments” here means systems manufactured, a proxy for how many are actually sold.) By 2040, these states—California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island—are aiming for 90 percent of those shipments to be heat pumps.

“It’s a really strong signal from states that they’re committed to accelerating this transition to zero-emissions residential buildings,” says Emily Levin, senior policy adviser at the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM), an association of air-quality agencies that facilitated the agreement. The states will collaborate, for instance, in pursuing federal funding, developing standards for the rollout of heat pumps, and laying out an overarching plan “with priority actions to support widespread electrification of residential buildings.”

  • @chilicheeselies
    link
    2511 months ago

    That how life works. You dont know their situation. You dont know if they can afford in increase. Where i live i have heat pumps and it costs me $300 a month to heat a two bedroom apartment. And thats with keeping it at 68f. If the cost of the electricty is outrageous, what are people supposed to do?

    • @Contestant
      link
      English
      -211 months ago

      Sorry I thought everybody here understood personal sacrifices will need to be made in order to solve the climate change problem. Apparently not, we just like to blame corporations for selling us the things we demand (like gas heating)

      • @RedAggroBest
        link
        111 months ago

        There’s a very distinct difference between a personal sacrifice and literally impossible with their current finances. This is the most ignorant shit I’ve seen on this thread, and there’s been a lot.

        • @Contestant
          link
          English
          011 months ago

          He doesn’t give the math of what he’s spending now vs with a heat pump, and he doesn’t say he CAN’T afford it, just that it will take too long for him to see the financial benefits. When others try to ask him about details, he doesn’t respond.

          The whole reason why we’re in this mess is the full cost of carbon is not paid by current consumers used to cheap energy. People need to accept that their western standard of living will be reduced to match the correct cost of these comforts without taking a sort of “carbon loan” for the future generations to pay.

          It’s a very hard pill to swallow, I understand.