BUILDING ELECTRIFICATION: Health, Equity, Climate
After industry and transportation, buildings are a top emitter of greenhouse gases. Electrification of buildings is a critical step toward decarbonization, improved health, and health equity. “Natural” or fossil-fuel gas appliances are proven to increase indoor air pollution and exacerbate conditions such as asthma. The health harms from indoor pollution are compounded by the high outdoor air pollution levels in California, per the American Lung Association’s State of the Air Report Card.
California is at a critical turning point and leading the nation with transportation and building decarbonization policies, regulatory rules, and city building reach codes. SF Bay PSR is actively advocating for these changes with our health professional voices.
This project is funded by support from PSR National. We would also like to thank SF Bay PSR interns Alma Hernandez, Lilah Blalock, and Jasmine Campos for their outstanding work.
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PROJECT GOALS
- To advance building electrification in California by educating the public, health professionals, and policy makers about health and climate benefits of building electrification and the negative consequences of burning fossil fuels, use of hydrogen with fossil gas, and ongoing global warming, particularly in vulnerable communities.
- To highlight the real and potential racial and economic inequities raised by building electrification and suggest strategic courses of action toward a just transition.
TACTICS
- Create educational events, presentations, info sheets, infographics, and other materials to educate the public, health professionals, and policy makers about the health harms of fossil (“natural”) gas appliances, benefits of electric appliances, and the compounded health inequities of indoor and outdoor air pollution.
- Conduct media outreach including offering trained health professional speakers to give interviews and quotes, attend press conferences, write op-ed, LTEs, and articles.
- Work in collaboration with California’s building decarbonization network and selected coalitions.
- Serve environmental justice groups and community organizations to support their efforts to ensure equity is made a priority throughout the building electrification transition. Read the BE Survey Report here, by Intern Alma Hernandez.
- Advocate for the expeditious removal of fossil gas from buildings, both new and old, by giving testimony and submitting public comments to city and state planning and regulatory agencies
- Advocate for zero-emission appliance standards for buildings at state and local levels and support the implementation of the first-in-the-nation zero-emission standards for furnaces and water heaters adopted by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District
- Advocate for indoor air pollution standards
- Advocate against use of hydrogen in homes and the blending of hydrogen with fossil gas
- Help to accelerate the just transition to all electric homes and transportation through policy advocacy and regulatory agency comments
- Protect rooftop solar, currently the fastest path to an affordable, reliable, and safe clean energy grid, through policy advocacy
SPEAKERS BUREAU and Health Harms/Benefits Testimony for city, county, and state planning meetings, community meetings, and public events such as cooking demonstrations or electric house tours.
SF Bay PSR has health professionals available to give presentations to groups and/or testimony at your local planning meetings about the health harms of gas appliances and benefits of all electric buildings. Please send inquiries to info@sfbaypsr.org, subject line Building Electrification.
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EVENTS
WATCH HERE our 2023 event, Extreme Heat: The Deadliest Climate-Related Health Hazard: How can we advocate for health and equity protections? broadcast on May 18, 2023. The expert panel of speakers covered heat-related health issues; what we need to do locally following the recent Air District vote to phase out gas furnaces and ensure an equitable and just transition to heat-cooling pumps and protected electricity access; and what we can all do on the state-level to advocate for policies and regulations that ensure equal access to cooling and health protections, and a just transition to renewable energy and electrification. Speakers included: Jessica Tovar of Local Clean Energy Alliance; Dr. Robin Cooper of SF Bay PSR and Climate Psychiatry Alliance; Edgar Barraza, Michael Ricon of PSR-LA; and Dr. Rupa Basu of the CA EPA.
WATCH HERE our 2022 event, Building Electrification: Climate, Health, Equity, broadcast on April 27, 2022, a two-hour special on the health harms of gas appliances and the benefits of electric homes to health and the environment, featuring Emma Hines of RMI; Jessica Guadalupe Tovar of Local Clean Energy Alliance; Krystal Pollitt of Environmental Health Sciences at Yale; and Zach Williams of PSR National.
WATCH HERE our 2021 event, Electrification of Buildings: Climate, Health, Justice, broadcast on April 28, 2021, featuring Diane Bailey of Menlo Spark; Brady Seals of RMI’s Carbon-Free Buildings program; and Antonio Díaz of PODER—People Organizing to Demand Economic and Environmental Right.