NEWS ISSUE OF THE MONTH
TAKING ON
Climate Change at Home BY KEVIN KANE
C
limate change. While stopping it may seem like a gigantic task, the place to start may actually be close to home.
President Biden believes so. His administration’s climate strategy features residential energy efficiency prominently, both in upgrading 2 million homes to be energy efficient and building 1.5 million new homes to a higher standard. This challenge builds off research highlighting residential energy efficiency as one of the top steps our society must do to reduce emissions. The National Resource Defense Council calls it the number 1 carbon reduction opportunity. And of course, it creates jobs. While a real climate commitment is promising for 16 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS
what we consider green jobs in solar, wind and electric vehicles, it also means we will need the construction trades: insulators, HVAC techs, plumbers, electricians and glaziers to seriously cut building emissions.
GREEN MORTGAGES? But what if we could make other jobs connected to the housing sector green also? What if realtors, appraisers, and mortgage lenders could have a critical role in reducing carbon emissions and energy bills for their clients? That is the approach put forward by a number of us who urge “green mortgages, both for purchases and for refinances that could actually cost you nothing. Green mortgages work by rolling in the cost of energy
