heat pumps

Statutory Language? Who Cares About Statutory Language?

The picture is a close up of a Mitsubishi Electric heat pump on the exterior wall of a building.

A new DOE guidance seems flatly contrary to the statute it’s acting under.

The Department of Energy has issued new guidance that cuts off rebates for people who replace a gas furnace with a heat pump. Under the new guidance, the rebate will be allowed only if the heat pump replaces an electric furnace. Unless I’m missing something, the statute creating the program says the exact opposite. I suppose maybe at this stage I should find this blithe lack of concern for legality unsurprising. Maybe I haven’t adjusted to the Trump era as much as I’d thought. The rebate program specifically covers “any “project that includes [among other things] … the purchase or installation … of an electric heat pump … to replace a nonelectric appliance.”

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A.I. Pollution in the Air — and the Public Comments

On a red background someone holds up a megaphone that blasts out envelopes representing messages.

The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.

Artificial intelligence has already replaced some artists, translators, and podcast hosts. Now it’s coming for… concerned citizens? That’s right. AI-assisted campaigns have started flooding the inbox of government agencies that seek to engage with the public. Do you remember last June when the South Coast Air Quality Management District Board killed two common sense clean …

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These SoCal Clean Air Rules are Being Smeared

Legitimate affordability concerns are being weaponized by the gas lobby and its supporters ahead of an important SCAQMD vote to encourage cleaner appliances.

After years of rule development, Southern California air quality regulators are set to vote tomorrow on a pair of proposals that would reduce harmful pollution from gas furnaces and water heaters. A coordinated campaign by opponents including SoCalGas is painting these relatively moderate rules as a “ban” on gas appliances and an attack on middle-class …

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Think Globally, Act Locally – Personal Environmental Action in the Era of Trump 2.0

AKA it should be much easier to put in a heat pump water heater.

The chaos of Trump 2.0 is making it difficult to think about affirmative environmental action these days. At the policy level and in the courts, environmentalists are going to be playing defense for the next few years. Much of what is going on these days feels beyond the average person’s control and that can be …

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Making Heat Pumps Accessible and Affordable to Decarbonize Buildings

New policy report on solutions to improve deployment of heat pump technologies in existing buildings | Webinar July 19

Join us for a webinar to discuss the report findings with leaders on July 19 at 1 pm PT. RSVP here You may have seen heat pumps (or #heatpumpnation) in the news recently and wondered, what really is this device? How do heat pumps relate to building decarbonization goals, national security, and climate mitigation efforts? …

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