Ocasio-Cortez’s Dream Of ‘Greening’ Every Am
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The Green New Deal could cost American families $244 billion just to replace four appliances.
Roughly half of U.S. homes rely on natural gas for heating. Replacing all that could cost $155.5 billion.
“The Green New Deal is not a practical solution for American consumers,” said a ratepayer advocate.
The Green New Deal calls for upgrading every existing building in the U.S. to “maximum energy efficiency” within 10 years, but how much would that cost Americans to just replace common household appliances?
It would cost nearly $244 billion, according to a rough cost estimate put together by the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), a ratepayer advocacy group. The group looked at the cost to replace natural gas-fueled furnaces, water heaters, stoves and dryers present in tens of millions of U.S. homes.
“Many common household appliances including furnaces, water heaters, stoves and dryers are powered by abundant, affordable energy resources including natural gas, which the proposal aims to eliminate,” Holt said.
While gas appliances are often more efficient and cost-effective, the Green New Deal’s call to cut emissions likely mean those appliances would need to be replaced with electric ones.
It would cost more than $155.5 billion to replace gas furnaces used in roughly 59.5 million households, CEA estimated. Gas furnaces are more efficient, especially in the frigid cold.
CEA estimated it would cost another $50 billion to electrify water heaters for the 56.3 million homes that currently rely on natural gas, $26.4 billion to replace natural gas cooking ranges at 39 million homes and $11.9 billion to install electric clothes dryers in 17.9 million homes.
This doesn’t include the cost of replacing coal and gas-fired power plants with renewables and other zero-emissions sources, which could cost anywhere from $5 trillion to $40 trillion. Not getting rid of fossil-fueled power plants could make electric appliances drive more emissions.
“American consumers need better, more practical energy solutions than this proposal offers,” Holt said.
https://thepoliticalinsider.com/ocasio-cortez...;source=CI
Our home has solar panels and only a gas water heater and furnace. They are only 3 yrs old so already energy efficient.