Articles

Government Affairs Update - September 2023

Americans Underestimate the Benefits of Heat Pumps and Electric Appliances

A Washington Post poll shows that a majority of Americans are not able to correctly gauge what climate change mitigation measures yield the best results. Importantly, a majority of survey respondents did not indicate that they thought using a heat pump or transitioning to electric instead of gas appliances would meaningfully reduce their carbon footprint, with 58% and 65% of respondents saying that these mitigation measures would have a little or no impact at all. This highlights the need for ASHRAE to continue to lead on advocacy and education on the subject of sustainable building practices and building decarbonization as greenhouse gas emission mitigation strategies. You can read an analysis of the survey and see the full results here.

Appropriations and Implications for Climate Funding

Congress continues to debate and formulate a budget for the federal government, bringing the threat of a government shutdown if an agreement is not reached by the end of September. In the recent years, a continuing resolution was passed to allow the government to continue operating at level funding, but this year the House Freedom Caucus is pushing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to forgo a continuing resolution and allow a shutdown to happen if demands are not met. One negotiating chip is the clean energy and climate funding that stemmed from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Republicans have made public their desire to repeal much of the IRA, but democrats have been quick and firm in making clear their intentions to protect the clean energy and climate portions of the IRA.

DOE Issues Pre-Publication Notice on Conservation Standards for Consumer Boilers

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in response to a request from the Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), held a public hearing on September 12 to discuss its proposed amended standards for consumer boilers, originally published in the Federal Register on August 13. While DOE did not extend the comment period, they will be accepting comments until October 13 – more information can be found here. Like other recent proposed rulemakings, DOE seeks to require consumer boiler manufacturers to produce more energy efficient products, in an economically feasible manner.

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