DC Organizations Support The Healthy Homes Act

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 NetworkSierra ClubInterfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA)
DC Fiscal Policy InstituteEarthjusticeNAACP, DC Branch
DC Asthma CoalitionIpsun SolarSEIU 32BJ
League of Women Voters of DCEmpower DCMoms Clean Air Force DC Chapter
Anacostia Parks & Community CollaborativeGRID Alternatives Mid-AtlanticJewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington
Nature Forward (formerly known as Audubon Naturalist Society)Center for Biological DiversityChesapeake Climate Action Network
Sunrise DCDC Environmental NetworkFriends Meeting of Washington Committee on Peace and Social Concerns
The Festival CenterEvergreen ActionDC Climate Action
We Power DCMetro DC DSADC Voters for Animals
Wentworth Green StrategiesCitizens’ Climate Lobby – DC ChapterIBEW Local 26
Ward 3 DemocratsRachel Carson CouncilDC for Democracy