This is in response to Stephen Singer’s article “How much money has been spent subsidizing heat pumps in Maine?” published in the Oct. 12 Press Herald. I am a green realtor. I research, consult and teach building energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Every winter, we spend $40 million on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, keeping Mainers warm. With bipartisan input from the Maine Climate Council, we are moving Mainers toward self-sufficiency. How?
Energy-efficient electric heat pumps lower fuel costs, literally making housing more affordable. Heat pumps pay for themselves even faster with rebates, which are tiered to help lower income households even more with the upfront cost. Efficiency Maine Trust ensures a high return on every dollar invested in programs.
My inner Sheldon Whitehouse has some charts I’d like to show you now: the billions Mainers spend importing fossil fuel; the hundreds of billions U.S. taxpayers spend rebuilding from storms; the tens of billions taxpayers spend on fossil fuel subsidies; the tens of millions fossil fuel companies spend lobbying politicians; sea level rise in the Gulf of Maine, on track to cause the total loss of Maine beaches and valuable coastal property and tourism if we don’t all go all in for the clean energy transition. And I’m just getting started, but I must leave it here.
Weatherization, electrification, renewable energy and stronger energy codes in the built environment are essential to the future existence of Maine’s lands, ecosystems and economy, and the well-being of future generations.
Julia Bassett Schwerin
Cape Elizabeth
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