One of the elements of the Green New Deal resolution that has caused the most consternation among critics on the right is its aspiration toward “upgrading all existing buildings in the United States,” along with building new buildings to the highest energy standards. Senate leader Mitch McConnel says they’ll be nosing around your home and business “forcing you to pay for costly updates” while a New York Times columnist claimed upgrading buildings would centralize “power in the hands of the Washington elite.”
The irony is that anyone who has studied the problem of reducing US greenhouse gas emissions to net zero knows that buildings are a top agenda item. The reason is simple: Buildings are responsible for about 40 percent of the greenhouse gases in the US. Those emissions come, in part, from the fossil fuels (primarily natural gas these days but also heating oil) burned to heat (and cool) the water and space inside buildings. The thing is, while skeptics like the ones mentioned above believe fixing the building sector is impossible, six jurisdictions around the US are already showing that it’s possible. From California to Washington D.C, have a look at the 6 places who are already getting buildings off fossil fuels.
