The undersigned organizations urge the DC Council to pass and fund the Healthy Homes and Residential Electrification Act of 2023 (B25-0119) to protect DC residents from the climate and public health threat of burning fossil fuels in our homes. The Healthy Homes Act would provide low and middle income DC households the opportunity to switch from fossil fuels to clean and efficient electric heating and induction cooking with no out-of-pocket costs. This is a critical next step in DC’s path to clean energy and a better future for all our community’s residents for these reasons:
Climate
About a quarter of DC’s total climate pollution comes from methane gas that is drilled through a process called fracking and then pumped into our homes to be burned in furnaces, hot water heaters, stoves, and ovens.
Health
Gas burned in buildings for heating and cooking pollutes indoor air with toxic compounds linked to asthma, cancer, and other serious ailments. Research has shown that children growing up in homes with gas appliances are 42% more likely to develop asthma, and that children in homes with gas appliances have similar asthma rates as children who grow up with cigarette smokers. Gas pollutants also contribute to lung disease, hypertension and many other health conditions.
Equity
Supplementing federal funding now available for clean energy upgrades with local dollars will ensure that DC’s most vulnerable residents are first in line to receive the benefits of clean energy and not forced to bear the health impacts and high costs of dirty energy.
Affordability
Fracked gas prices increased more than 50% last year. And the costs will continue to skyrocket – Washington Gas is seeking to charge DC residents almost $5 billion dollars just to maintain its existing gas infrastructure. Clean and efficient electric systems are more affordable than ever, especially with the millions of dollars in federal incentives coming to DC to transition our buildings off fossil fuels.
Planning for a robust economic future
The Healthy Homes Act must be passed and fully funded to ensure that our communities can take advantage of federal funding to empower DC residents to improve air quality in their homes, cut climate pollution, and free themselves of ever-increasing fossil fuel costs.
To meet DC’s climate commitments, to protect public health, and to reduce energy costs, we urge the DC Council to pass and fully fund the Healthy Homes Act.
| Washington Interfaith Network | Sierra Club | Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA) |
| DC Fiscal Policy Institute | Earthjustice | NAACP, DC Branch |
| DC Asthma Coalition | Ipsun Solar | SEIU 32BJ |
| League of Women Voters of DC | Empower DC | Moms Clean Air Force DC Chapter |
| Anacostia Parks & Community Collaborative | GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic | Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington |
| Nature Forward (formerly known as Audubon Naturalist Society) | Center for Biological Diversity | Chesapeake Climate Action Network |
| Sunrise DC | DC Environmental Network | Friends Meeting of Washington Committee on Peace and Social Concerns |
| The Festival Center | Evergreen Action | DC Climate Action |
| We Power DC | Metro DC DSA | DC Voters for Animals |
| Wentworth Green Strategies | Citizens’ Climate Lobby – DC Chapter | IBEW Local 26 |
| Ward 3 Democrats | Rachel Carson Council | DC for Democracy |
