Scientists agree we need to cut our heat-trapping emissions to zero by 2050 to avoid the worst effects of climate change – and we need to make big progress in the next decade. Waste reduction and energy efficiency measures alone can not get us all the way to net zero.
Nearly All Emissions Come from Fossil Fuels
Extracting and burning fossil fuels to generate electricity, transport goods, and people, and heat our homes, offices, and buildings – creates the vast majority of carbon emissions. In the U.S. and other industrialized nations, this accounts for over 75% of annual emissions. It will not be possible to prevent a climate crisis until we STOP burning fossil fuels.
Scientists, economists, and environmentalists understand that a critical solution to combating the climate crisis is to supply the electric grid with clean renewable energy, then use that clean electricity to power high-efficiency electric devices for heat, transportation, cooking, and more. This concept is often referred to as “electrify everything.”
Wind and solar costs have plummeted in the last decade, and now they are the lowest sources for new energy generation. We can use renewable energy for nearly all our energy needs, and stop burning fossil fuels. By choosing to electrify, we can help prevent the worst effects of climate change, reduce pollution and improve our daily lives. We are all part of the energy system. We can all help transform it through the energy choices we make.
We Are Funding Climate Change
Households in the U.S. pay more than $500 billion every year to big oil, coal, and gas companies through gasoline purchases and utility bills. Our energy dollars pay billions in profits to the industry that is endangering our future. But now we can shift our dollars to the solution without lowering our standard of living.
By taking the electrify actions outlined below, you can help to accelerate the transformation of our energy systems to clean renewable and sustainable solutions. These actions can also save you money in operating costs and provide better home comfort and performance, safer products, and cleaner indoor air. Here are some tips for how to do it.
Electrify Now
Clean Up Your Electric Supply
Use your electricity dollars to pay for clean renewable energy. Choose a 100% Renewable Energy plan from your utility for home electricity. Sign up for Community Solar if it’s available in your area or install solar panels if it makes sense for your home. Your actions will help clean up the electric grid and eliminate emissions from everything you power with electricity.
Electrify Your Home
Replace everything in your home that burns fossil fuels with an electric alternative. In most homes, the furnace and water heater are the biggest source of carbon emissions Electric heat pumps for water and home heating dramatically reduce emissions and can lower utility bills. Induction stoves outperform gas and improve indoor air quality. There is a no-compromise electric alternative in every case
Electrify Your Ride
Replace your gas-powered car with an Electric Vehicle (EV). Experience better performance, cut fuel and maintenance costs in half, and never visit a gas station again. EV’s are just better automobiles. Ask anyone who owns one – they will never go back to gasoline power.
Electrify Everyone
Communities of color and low-income families are the most affected by climate change and fossil fuel pollution. Please consider balancing your emissions by donating to the Electrify Everyone Fund. This fund pays for the electrification of low-income homes. Your donation will reduce carbon emissions and save these families hundreds of dollars per year in energy costs. A $20 tax-deductible donation avoids 1 Ton of CO2. A $350 donation will avoid the equivalent of the average yearly carbon emissions for one person in the US.
Electrify Everything and Win
Save Money
A typical U.S. household spends over $4,000 per year on energy expenses for electricity, gasoline, and natural gas. Almost all of that money goes to the oil and gas giants that are creating the climate crisis. New electric products are many times more energy-efficient than fossil fuel-powered devices. By taking these electrify! actions, you could save over $1,000 per year in expenses and reduce your energy emissions to ZERO.
Improve Your Quality of Life
Electrification is not a compromise. In nearly every way, electric products outperform their fossil fuel counterparts. They are more efficient, quieter, and require less maintenance. They do not produce local emissions nor toxic indoor and outdoor air pollution. Induction stoves and electric fireplaces are safer and easier to clean. Electric devices do not require “filling up” – no trips to the gas station or the propane distributor. Look around at all the devices in your home that are powered by fossil fuels – there is a high-performance electric alternative for each one. Once you have electrified – you will never go back.
Help Build a Clean, Abundant Future
Many of the problems in the world that we accept as “normal” are the result of burning fossil fuels. When you electrify! you will be helping to create a future with cleaner AIR that is free from fossil fuels pollution, more available clean WATER, better paying and safer JOBS, reduced HEALTH expenses, and a clean ENVIRONMENT free from oil spills, methane leaks, toxic waste, acid rain, etc.
Enormous Impact
Because these actions eliminate sources of emissions FOREVER, the cumulative effect is enormous. By taking these measures, a typical household with 2 cars will avoid over 20 Tons of CO2 emissions every year – FOREVER.
Fossil fuels burned for electricity, transportation, and heat are at the heart of the climate change problem. You can eliminate emissions in each of these areas through the energy choices you make. Let us help you to take action! Please use the resources and discounts that we have compiled on our website to make it as low cost and painless as possible. Good luck with your electrification projects!
A special thanks to the team at Electrify Now for allowing us to adapt their website information for our publication
For more info: https://electrifynow.net/
Learn more about the Electrify Everyone Fund: www.communityenergyproject.org/electrify-everyone/
