Email to Senator Markey 8thFebruary 2019.
Hello Senator MArkey,
I believe I can help sell your Green New Deal to skeptics, especially Republicans who control the Senate. We have cut the carbon emissions of our home in Dover by almost 90% in the last four years. We did this by retrofitting our 1970s house with heat pumps, insulation, triple-glazed windows and solar panels. All installed by local, hard-working plumbers, electricians and carpenters.
The best part of “going zero” is that we are saving about $9,000 a year in heating and electric bills. The savings will pay for the retrofit in about eight years. Our return on investment is about 11% per year after tax, which sure beats my 401k! We are saving money by saving the planet.
I believe this is the inflection point, the turning point, the point of no return. You said it yourself, “The sun is setting on the dirty energy of the past.” You can now make money by “going zero”. Making money is possible because the technologies of heat pumps, triple-glazed windows and solar panels have improved greatly and have tumbled in price. It is also because Massachusetts has smart policies such as: net metering for electricity, the MassSave program for subsidizing insulation, incentives for heat pumps and the new SMART solar subsidy. Massachusetts has led the way for your Green New Deal.
As you say in your Senate Resolution, we need to, “upgrade all existing U.S. buildings…to achieve maximum energy efficiency.” It is now possible to massively scale-up “going zero” because every home or business owner would make money. “Going zero” is no longer being driven by a hippy environmentalism, it is being driven by cold, hard cash in your pocket.
To move from the inspiring language of the Green New Deal resolution to the action needed to deliver on its promises you will need concrete plans. Making money by going zero on your home, office or factory should be one of them.
I know this might sound like it is unreal or that I am exaggerating. But I assure you it is very real. If you would like to send an aide to see my house, my electric bills that say, “No payment due” and my very carefully recorded results I would be happy to accommodate them.
Yes, and my family name really is Green. I am not making that up either.