The climate crisis alarm, which has been sounding continuously for many years, is now blaring. In the first nine months of 2021 the United States saw 18 separate climate-fueled disasters resulting in lost life, livelihoods, ecosystems, and $104.8 billion in disaster costs.
In 2018, the panel of scientists known as the IPCC told us in no uncertain terms that to avoid even worse impacts of climate change, we need to halve our climate emissions by 2030 and reduce them to near zero by 2050. In 2019 Amherst decided to set climate goals in line with that science, followed shortly by Massachusetts and thankfully this year, the United States.
Earlier this summer, the International Energy Agency came out with a road map for the global energy sector, laying out the key milestones, technical breakthroughs, policies, and behavior changes needed to give us a shot at meeting the 2050 goal. One milestone that stands out is by 2025, we need to halt all new sales of fossil fuel heating systems. This means that in as little as four years, every new building and existing building that needs a new heating system must be ready to ditch fossil fuels and use electric heat pumps.
We face an uphill battle in Amherst. Energy use in homes and buildings is our largest emission source and challenging to tackle. Heating with electric heat pumps has many benefits including reduced costs and better indoor air quality. But to realize those benefits, many homes and buildings will need efficiency upgrades and weatherization — air sealing, new insulation, better windows — which improves comfort and can save significant money over time, but costs money upfront.
While rebates and no-interest loans exist, they can be hard to access, particularly for residents with language barriers, limited trust in government programs, or who aren’t able to pay the costs upfront. Renters, who can suffer most from high energy bills and unhealthy indoor air due to outdated equipment and poor building envelopes, often have limited influence or insight into how their landlord may or may not prioritize upgrades, or how they may pass costs onto tenants.
If the Jones Library project passes, that will help get us started. Securing this grant will allow us to do the efficiency upgrades necessary to replace four, 31-year-old natural gas boilers with a heat pump system that can run on renewable electricity.
This grant will allow us to have a library that uses less energy, no fossil fuels, has healthier air, and costs less to operate even while providing more services. Without matching grant funds, making this switch will require significantly more funding from the town and most likely, we will be forced to replace the aging boilers with new fossil fuel boilers because we can’t afford the major upgrades this grant supports.
If we care about the climate crisis and meeting our goals, we simply cannot afford to miss any opportunity to replace fossil fuel heating systems as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.
Beyond this, the recently finalized Climate Action, Adaptation and Resilience Plan, as well as the recently approved Comprehensive Housing Policy, both identify the important intersection between increasing affordable housing that is climate resilient and fossil fuel free.
The Affordable Housing Trust is working with the town and the Energy and Climate Action Committee to consider how we can maximize funding sources, including new town funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), to reduce implementation barriers for efficiency upgrades and heat pumps in existing single- and multi-family homes.
Resourcing community organizations to lead outreach will be key, as well as identifying job training opportunities that build wealth in our community by putting people to work in well-paying jobs to make these improvements. We must figure out the right mix of incentives and policy changes to activate all building owners in town (single and multi-family, higher education, and commercial) to take the required actions to weatherize and electrify.
We need to hold elected officials at all levels accountable to support the funding and policy mechanisms necessary to make the switch from fossil fuels. Then, as a community, we need to work together to implement. The opportunity to address climate change while also addressing affordable housing, health disparities, energy inequality, and job creation cannot be wasted.
Through innovation and collaboration, we can hold up Amherst as a shining example of intersectional climate action.
Laura Draucker is a climate expert, resident of Amherst, and the Chair of the Energy and Climate Action Committee. Opinions expressed are her own and do not reflect those of the Energy and Climate Action Committee.