Weekly Briefing: Rewiring America: Our Electrification Decisions Matter

August 14, 2024

We’re nearly halfway through Electrification Month! During CCL’s August meeting on Saturday, we heard from Aimee Witteman, Vice President of Investment for Rewiring America. Rewiring America is a nonprofit organization that launched in 2020 to focus on electrifying America’s homes, businesses, and communities.

Aimee shared, “42% of our energy-related emissions come from decisions we make around the kitchen table: how we heat and cool our homes, cook our food, dry our clothes, heat our water, and get around — and how we power it all.”

“This means that we have the power ourselves to make a difference,” Aimee explains. If we choose appliances in our homes that don’t use fossil fuel, it will go a long way toward reducing carbon pollution. “The challenge is that we have to do this across 129 million households.”

That’s why the conversations we’re having for Electrification Month are so vital. So far, we’ve held 942 conversations, and our goal for the month is 3,000.

Keep talking about electrification throughout this month! Visit our Electrification Month campaign page to log your conversations and to find more resources to support your outreach.

Visit Electrification Month Page

In other news this week:

• Permitting reform podcast chat: Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii recently appeared on Ezra Klein’s podcast for a wide-ranging conversation that touched on permitting reform. “We are going to have to make it easier to meet our clean energy goals. All of these environmental safeguards were about stopping bad stuff, and now,” Schatz says, the goal is “not just about stopping bad stuff; it’s about building good stuff.” Check out their conversation here.

Take action this week

If you have a little time: Share these climate communication tips. Do the people in your life understand why climate change is a big deal? It’s all in how you talk about it. We distilled some of the key advice from Potential Energy Coalition’s “Talk Like a Human” guide into a quick social media video to help you have better conversations and motivate people to act. Watch and share the video.

If you have more time: Watch Aimee’s full remarks from our August meeting. Rewiring America’s Aimee Witteman shared so many great insights during our August meeting this past Saturday. If you weren’t able to join us, watch the recording on CCL’s YouTube channel. Also on the call, CCL’s Executive Director Rachel Kerestes highlighted our recent legislative progress and discussed the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024.

Featured chapter: CCL Northeast Georgia

CCL’s Northeast Georgia chapter is doing great work expanding its membership and spreading its message within a predominantly conservative, rural community. Bob O’Brien recently took the reins from longtime group leader Vernon Dixon, whom he credits for significantly broadening the chapter's impact. The chapter is represented by an extremely conservative member of Congress — they maintain regular communication with his staff and actively seek common ground.

The chapter members regularly hold tabling events, present to service organizations such as Rotary, and write letters to the editor. They have partnered with local colleges, giving presentations on En-ROADS and climate solutions to local students and showing climate-focused films at the University of North Georgia - Gainesville. Their first screening was followed by a Q&A session with former congressman Bob Inglis. The chapter has also partnered with a forest-focused nonprofit, including holding joint events.

Northeast Georgia is an excellent example of a chapter keeping folks connected across a broad geographic area. With many volunteers located in the North Georgia mountains, and others based in cities, they offer a broad range of online and in-person activities to keep their chapter going strong and advocating for action on climate change. Thank you for your continued dedication and hard work, CCL Northeast Georgia!

Want to chat with the Northeast Georgia volunteers about rural outreach and connections? Join the conversation on CCL Community.

Upcoming trainings

8/15: Electrifying Your Home - Ask Me Anything - Have you wanted to install a heat pump or other clean energy appliances and get a tax rebate, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act? Join this Thursday's Electrifying Your Home - Ask Me Anything to find out how from homeowners that have already done the work. Join us!

8/20: Chapter Development Basics - Join CCL Education and Resilience Coordinator Tamara Staton for a training designed to demystify the process of starting, growing and running a CCL chapter. Join us!

8/22: Exploring Energy Efficiency and Electrification Coursework Online - Discover resources and career maps to help you access resources related to energy efficiency and electrification, including online courses, webinars, and certifications — even plan your future work options. A Q&A session will also be included. Join us!

To see other topics and past trainings, visit the Training Topics page of CCL Community.

Nerd Corner Chart of the Week

750,000 homes took advantage of the IRA tax credit for rooftop solar

Join the discussion about the over 3.4 million homes that have used IRA tax credits.