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batboyblog · 1 month

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Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #14

April 12-19 2024

The Department of Commerce announced a deal with Samsung to help bring advanced semiconductor manufacturing and research and development to Texas. The deal will bring 45 billion dollars of investment to Texas to help build a research center in Taylor Texas and expand Samsung's Austin, Texas, semiconductor facility. The Biden Administration estimates this will create 21,000 new jobs. Since 1990 America has fallen from making nearly 40% of the world's semiconductor to just over 10% in 2020.

The Department of Energy announced it granted New York State $158 million to help support people making their homes more energy efficient. This is the first payment out of a $8.8 billion dollar program with 11 other states having already applied. The program will rebate Americans for improvements on their homes to lower energy usage. Americans could get as much as $8,000 off for installing a heat pump, as well as for improvements in insulation, wiring, and electrical panel. The program is expected to help save Americans $1 billion in electoral costs, and help create 50,000 new jobs.

The Department of Education began the formal process to make President Biden's new Student Loan Debt relief plan a reality. The Department published the first set of draft rules for the program. The rules will face 30 days of public comment before a second draft can be released. The Administration hopes the process can be finished by the Fall to bring debt relief to 30 million Americans, and totally eliminate the debt of 4 million former students. The Administration has already wiped out the debt of 4.3 million borrowers so far.

The Department of Agriculture announced a $1 billion dollar collaboration with USAID to buy American grown foods combat global hunger. Most of the money will go to traditional shelf stable goods distributed by USAID, like wheat, rice, sorghum, lentils, chickpeas, dry peas, vegetable oil, cornmeal, navy beans, pinto beans and kidney beans, while $50 million will go to a pilot program to see if USAID can expand what it normally gives to new products. The food aid will help feed people in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Yemen.

The Department of the Interior announced it's expanding four national wildlife refuges to protect 1.13 million wildlife habitat. The refuges are in New Mexico, North Carolina, and two in Texas. The Department also signed an order protecting parts of the Placitas area. The land is considered sacred by the Pueblos peoples of the area who have long lobbied for his protection. Security Deb Haaland the first Native American to serve as Interior Secretary and a Pueblo herself signed the order in her native New Mexico.

The Department of Labor announced new work place safety regulations about the safe amount of silica dust mine workers can be exposed to. The dust is known to cause scaring in the lungs often called black lung. It's estimated that the new regulations will save over 1,000 lives a year. The United Mine Workers have long fought for these changes and applauded the Biden Administration's actions.

The Biden Administration announced its progress in closing the racial wealth gap in America. Under President Biden the level of Black Unemployment is the lowest its ever been since it started being tracked in the 1970s, and the gap between white and black unemployment is the smallest its ever been as well. Black wealth is up 60% over where it was in 2019. The share of black owned businesses doubled between 2019 and 2022. New black businesses are being created at the fastest rate in 30 years. The Administration in 2021 Interagency Task Force to combat unfair house appraisals. Black homeowners regularly have their homes undervalued compared to whites who own comparable property. Since the Taskforce started the likelihood of such a gap has dropped by 40% and even disappeared in some states. 2023 represented a record breaking $76.2 billion in federal contracts going to small business owned by members of minority communities. This was 12% of federal contracts and the President aims to make it 15% for 2025.

The EPA announced (just now as I write this) that it plans to add PFAS, known as forever chemicals, to the Superfund law. This would require manufacturers to pay to clean up two PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid. This move to force manufacturers to cover the costs of PFAS clean up comes after last week's new rule on drinking water which will remove PFAS from the nation's drinking water.

Bonus:

President Biden met a Senior named Bob in Pennsylvania who is personally benefiting from The President's capping the price of insulin for Seniors at $35, and Biden let Bob know about a cap on prosecution drug payments for seniors that will cut Bob's drug bills by more than half.

#Thanks Biden #Joe Biden #jobs #Economy #student loan debt #Environment #PFAS #politics #US politics #health care

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justinspoliticalcorner · 23 days

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WaPo: How car bans and heat pump rules drive voters to the far right

Shannon Osaka at WaPo:

More than a decade ago, the Netherlands embarked on a straightforward plan to cut carbon emissions. Its legislature raised taxes on natural gas, using the money earned to help Dutch households install solar panels. By most measures, the program worked: By 2022, 20 percent of homes in the Netherlands had solar panels, up from about 2 percent in 2013. Natural gas prices, meanwhile, rose by almost 50 percent. But something else happened, according to a new study. The Dutch families who were most vulnerable to the increase in gas prices — renters who paid their own utility bills — drifted to the right. Families facing increased home energy costs became 5 to 6 percent more likely to vote for one of the Netherlands’ far-right parties. A similar backlash is happening all over Europe, as far-right parties position themselves in opposition to green policies. In Germany, a law that would have required homeowners to install heat pumps galvanized the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, giving it a boost. Farmers have rolled tractors into Paris to protest E.U. agricultural rules, and drivers in Italy and Britain have protested attempts to ban gas-guzzling cars from city centers.

That resurgence of the right could slow down the green transition in Europe, which has been less polarized on global warming, and serves as a warning to the United States, where policies around electric vehicles and gas stoves have already sparked a backlash. The shift also shows how, as climate policies increasingly touch citizens’ lives, even countries whose voters are staunchly supportive of clean energy may hit roadblocks. “This has really expanded the coalition of the far right,” said Erik Voeten, a professor of geopolitics at Georgetown University and the author of the new study on the Netherlands.

Other studies have found similar results. In one study in Milan, researchers at Bocconi University studied the voting patterns of drivers whose cars were banned from the city center for being too polluting. These drivers, who on average lost the equivalent of $4,000 because of the ban, were significantly more likely to vote for the right-wing Lega party in subsequent elections. In Sweden, researchers found that low-income families facing high electricity prices were also more likely to turn toward the far right. Far-right parties in Europe have started to position themselves against climate action, expanding their platforms from anti-immigration and anti-globalization. A decade ago, the Dutch right-wing Party for Freedom emphasized that it wasn’t against renewable energy — just increasing energy prices. But by 2021, the party’s manifesto had moved to more extreme language. “Energy is a basic need, but climate madness has turned it into a very expensive luxury item,” the manifesto said. “The far right has increasingly started to campaign on opposition to environmental policies and climate change,” Voeten said.

The pushback also reflects, in part, how much Europe has decarbonized. More than 60 percent of the continent’s electricity already comes from renewable sources or nuclear power; so meeting the European Union’s climate goals means tacklingother sectors — transportation, buildings, agriculture.

[...] Some of these voting patterns have also played out in the United States. According to a study by the Princeton political scientist Alexander Gazmararian, historically-Democratic coal communities that lost jobs in the shift to natural gas increased their support for Republican candidates by 5 percent. The shift was larger in areas located farther from new gas power plants — that is, areas where voters couldn’t see that it was natural gas, not environmental regulations, that undercut coal.

Gazmararian says that while climate denial and fossil fuel misinformation have definitely played a role, many voters are motivated simply by their own financial pressures. “They’re in an economic circumstance where they don’t have many options,” he said. The solution, experts say, is todesign policies that avoid putting too much financial burden on individual consumers. In Germany, where the law to install heat pumps would have cost homeowners $7,500 to $8,500 more than installing gas boilers, policymakers quickly retreated. But by that point, far-right party membership had already surged.

The Washington Post explains what may be at least partially causing the rise of far-right extremist parties in Europe, Conservatives in Canada, and the Republicans in some parts of the US: rising energy costs that low-income people are bearing the brunt of.

In the US, right-wing hysteria about gas stove bans and electric vehicles are also playing a role.

#Climate Change #Energy #Environmentalism #Europe #United States #Coal #Electric Vehicles #Fossil Fuels

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allthecanadianpolitics · 4 months

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As Canadians wait for the federal government’s announcement on the future of the Greener Home Grant Program, concerns grow as the program phases out in two weeks. “Many of our customers receive 5,000 dollars or more in both federal and provincial rebates. This is a significant funding that will soon no longer be available,” said Brodie Sampson, owner of Nova Heat Pumps and Air Conditioning. Sampson’s team is on the eighth heat pump installation this week, and they are booked solid for the next month and a half. Aside from heating pumps, the money people get can be used for home insulations, windows and doors, and renewable energy system.

Tagging @politicsofcanada

#cdnpoli #canada #canadian politics #canadian news #energy efficiency #renewable energy

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plethoraworldatlas · 7 months

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1. The ACC will train and employ 20,000 people in climate and clean energy jobs

The ACC will mobilize a new, diverse generation by training them in skills crucial to combating climate change—everything from installing solar panels to improving communities' natural disaster resilience to restoring critical ecosystems. And with a shortage of skilled clean energy workers, the ACC couldn’t come at a better time. We need more tradespeople, installing things like electric vehicle chargers and heat pumps, to decarbonize our economy.

There’s an emphasis on building career pathways, not just jobs. To achieve this, the White House will partner with unions and is committed to providing members with the hard skills and transferable credentials that will allow them to find good-paying jobs or seek further training through apprenticeships and trade schools after their service. This includes potentially expanding access to scholarships and awards that would support post-secondary education and training or reduce student debt and streamlined pathways into civil service. The best part? No prior experience is required for most positions, and very few will require college degrees.

2. The ACC prioritizes equity and environmental justice

While the ACC draws upon the ambition of The New Deal and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps, it also learns from its fundamental flaws.

FDR’s Corps lacked diversity, perpetuated white supremacy, and almost entirely excluded women, but Biden’s Corps puts equity and environmental justice at its core. It prioritizes communities traditionally left behind, including energy communities, whose lives have been dominated and shaped by the fossil fuel industry, and disadvantaged communities, who disproportionately suffer from a combination of environmental, economic, and health burdens.

The ACC follows the same targets of the administration’s Justice40 goal, where 40 percent of the benefits must be directed towards disadvantaged communities.

3. The ACC employs an all-of-government approach

The ACC is built on a hub-and-spoke model with AmeriCorps at the center. The White House is launching a dedicated ACC recruitment website, where participants can learn about and apply for opportunities in their communities, and across the country, that span all spheres of the clean energy economy.

The administration is partnering AmeriCorps with at least five other federal agencies (Department of Labor, Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Department of Energy) to pool resources, coordinate recruitment, and fund corps members to work on specific projects that address the climate crisis.

Additionally, the administration will partner with at least 10 states. California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, and Washington have already launched similar programs, while five more (Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Utah) are creating their own Corps.

#enviromentalism #ecology #american climate corps #clean energy #green energy

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mightyflamethrower · 2 months

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In 2021, Joe Biden was elected after a bitterly fought campaign that deposed the incumbent Donald Trump. Democrats eventually captured, for a time, both the House and Senate, ensuring the most left-wing government in modern American history.

Americans were then set to witness a great experiment. For the first time in their lives, a truly radical socialist program would supposedly fundamentally transform the way America dealt with the border, immigration, the economy, race relations, foreign policy, energy, law enforcement, crime, education, and social questions such as religion, gender, abortion, and schooling.

In a sense, we were all to be lab rats of sorts, to be experimented on by the radical left and their various critical theories. Now in the last year of the Biden term, we can see the results of that experiment—and the unfortunate disasters that followed.

But first, how was such a radical move to the left even possible in a center-right America?

The Democratic nominee, Biden, had earlier united the left, but only through a Faustian deal. The handlers of a nearly non compos mentis Biden had ushered all his 2020 primary rivals out of the primary races in unison.

But in exchange for their exits that ensured Biden the nomination, the left took over his general campaign—in which Biden was virtually relegated to his basement—and then set his agenda.

Who was running things?

The mysterious architects of White House ideology included, inter alia, the omnipresent, now-Washington-DC-dwelling Obamas, the old socialist gadfly Bernie Sanders, the fossilized tribunes of the black and Latino congressional caucuses, the DEI firebrand Squad, and the neo-socialist scold Elizabeth Warren.

As a result, for one of the few times in American history, the hard left now had undreamt of power. And it was enhanced by a chorus in our compliant media, academia, corporations, the administrative state, foundations, entertainment, and popular culture.

So we were all to embark on a great adventure led by the foot soldiers of DEI, the Chicken-Little green extremists, the critical race and critical legal theory crowd, the modern monetary theorists, the woke commissars, the transgendered zealots, Antifa, BLM, the hate-Israel lobby, and the Trump Derangement Syndrome media sorts.

Ostensibly, America was to be reset financially, economically, socially, culturally, militarily, and politically. The nation would be arbitrarily divided into oppressors and oppressed—with one caveat: hyper-rich, left-wing white architects had to be exempt from the damage inflicted on those they targeted. Thus, like Orwellian pigs who walked on their two hind legs, they were free to fly their private jets, get their kids into racially quota-bound Ivy League schools, burn lots of fossil fuels to heat and cool their massive homes, and be protected by their walls, security details, and zip codes from the crime wave they would soon unleash on others.

Now, as we enter the fourth year of the great experiment, America is $35 trillion in debt, borrowing $1 trillion every 100 days. Home mortgages are at 7 percent. Key prices for food, insurance, rent, and fuels are 30-40 percent higher than when Biden entered office.

The nation has been humiliated and emasculated abroad. Racial relations are the worst in a half-century. The military is in virtual receivership. Biden is polling about 40 percent approval and is behind in key swing states in most of the 2024 polls.

As a result, the Biden administration is furiously trying to find a way to release more of its hated oil and natural gas on the world market. It stopped refilling the strategic petroleum reserve that it had earlier drained to lower gas prices before the 2022 midterms.

So it will quietly pump more oil and gas, appease Iran in fear of a war in the oil-producing Middle East, plead with the once “pariah” Saudis, and order the Ukrainians not to hit Russian oil installations—all to get more oil produced to lower November 2024 gas prices.

It will head nod to eliminating fossil fuels, mandating EVs, banning natural gas stoves, and subsidizing more inefficient wind and solar farms. But it now realizes that its green agenda on its watch will wreck the United States economy and throw the left out of power. So it pivots to an old-fashioned “Drill, World, Drill” mantra—at least until the election is over.

Biden fulfilled his agenda of getting 10 million illegal aliens into the United States by destroying the southern border. The point was to swarm America with poor, unaudited migrants, all in need of massive federal and state assistance, all supposedly now loyal to their entitlement benefactors. Who could stop them from voting as repayment to their enablers in the new age of 70 percent mail-in ballots, same-day registration, inadequate authentication and audit of ballots, third-party vote harvesting, ballot curing, and Zuckbucks pouring into key precincts to absorb the work of the registrars?

Most of the illegals went to Texas and Florida, key swing states that the left still thinks it can flip to blue status. Long term, the 10 million will recalibrate congressional districts to favor neo-socialist agendas. Short-term, millions of new arrivals unlawfully may still try to vote in 2024.

Any who object to or publicize this agenda will be dammed with boilerplate smears of “election deniers,” “voter suppressions,” “racists,” and “xenophobes,” Yet all that said, the administration is now desperately trying to distance itself from its greatest “new Democratic Majority” border success, given that public opinion abhors what Biden had done at the border to the country at large.

So it floated a phony “bipartisan border security” bill in hopes of luring naïve Republicans to support a stealth de facto amnesty agenda that would have still allowed 5,000 illegals in a day rather than the now customary 10-15,000. The hope was that when it failed (and the left knew it would), to blame Republicans for what the left had wrought.

Biden knows destroying the border will ruin America for generations to come, costing billions of dollars in subsidies and legal and policing costs to integrate the massive influx. So until the election, it is thrashing about, claiming that it never did such a thing at all. Its duplicity is again proof that the open borders agenda was hated by the public, a human catastrophe, and not sustainable before an impending election.

Biden’s foreign policy is also in ruins. Biden destroyed deterrence in an effort to beg, appease, and buy off America’s enemies to behave and not cause an election-losing war. But the more it fled from Afghanistan in humiliation, the more it appeased Russia as it massed on Ukraine’s border, the more it snored as a Chinese spy balloon traversed the United States, the more it put early holds on aid to Ukraine, the more it assured Putin a “minor” offensive into Ukraine would not elicit a US response, so all the more it convinced Putin that he could take Ukraine without an American pushback, the Chinese to threaten Taiwan, and Hamas to prepare for massacring Jews.

So here we are in Ukraine with nearly 800,000 dead, wounded, and missing Ukrainians and Russians. The administration has no clue how to stop the Verdun that its appeasement birthed. The entire therapeutic approach to foreign policy lies in ruins.

Ditto the Middle East. National security advisor Jack Sullivan’s “quiet” portfolio that he inherited from the Trump administration simply blew up. Biden is now scrambling to stop the Israeli response to the encircled Hamas remnants, trapped in their last redoubt in Rafah.

Biden is now replaying the 1950s CIA-stereotype of the “Ugly American,” as he does his best to overthrow the Netanyahu government, and to allow the trapped Hamas remnants to escape and claim they defeated the Zionist entity, despite butchering more Jews in a single day than any time since the Holocaust. No matter: the Biden administration is stealthily communicating with the Israeli opposition concerning the best joint strategies to force Netanyahu out. Mass protests in the streets of Tel Aviv attest to the success of destabilizing the current Israeli government.

Team Biden whispers to the media about slow-walking or stopping key arms shipments, abdicating America’s once protective role in the UN, or encouraging the “international community” to go after Netanyahu for “war crimes” for accidentally hitting a civilian team in Gaza. (By such logic, are Biden and Gen. Mark (“righteous strike”) Milley equally culpable for being in charge when a US strike in Kabul blew up 10 innocent civilians by similarly mistaken targeting?). Meanwhile, Biden keeps courting Muslim-American Michigan voters, who repay his appeasement with cries of “Death to Israel! Death to America!”.

The release of violent criminals and an uptick in property crimes, murders and assault follow a similar script. The Biden administration outsourced criminal justice to defund the police/critical legal theorists at the federal, state, and local levels. No bail arrests led to violent offenders released the next day. Thousands were let go from jails and prisons.

The word spread in the criminal community that in the new Biden years, there were no real consequences, no serious punishments for violent assault or major felonies.

So in 2021-2023, crime exploded. When it reached the point of making life unlivable in the major cities and began to max out, the administration declared “crime is declining”—in the same way that hyper-inflation supposedly did so on the economic front.

After spiking the prices of key food staples, insurance, fuel, and interest rates, such hikes could not go too much higher without destroying outright the American way of life. So as the rate of inflation slowed, Biden bragged about “lowering inflation”—but not the 30-40 percent higher food prices since his own inauguration.

The common denominator for these disasters is the embrace of left-wing “theory.”

Critical legal theory mandates that jurisprudence is a construct. Laws have no morality since they favor the powerful. The latter use “white privilege” arbitrarily to invent crimes and punishments to protect their own power hierarchies. All that nonsense has now led to a pre-civilizational free-for-all in our dirty, dangerous, and dysfunctional cities.

Modern monetary theory—printing lots of money to spread around to those who have none while diminishing the value of money of those who have it—only led to hyperinflation and high interest rates.

When DEI theories were unleashed on the military, potential recruits hesitated, and thousands quit. After Pentagon grandees virtue signaled their fear of “white rage” and “white privilege,” after DEI made promotions and assessments often contingent on race, gender, and sexual orientation, and after the new military was humiliated in Afghanistan, it found it could no longer deter the enemy, recruit sufficient soldiers, or win back the confidence of the American people.

In all these cases, the woke genie left the bottle—and won’t go back in. So it will be hard for the administration to assure a long-suffering public that things are just wonderful, much less to reverse these policies, if indeed they are reversible, before November.

Expect instead nonstop distraction as the left beats the January 6 horse to death, calls for abortion on demand, and waits for its underling judges, prosecutors, and juries to jail or bankrupt Trump and therefore do what balloting cannot.

In other words, the long-awaited Great Fundamental Transformation finally got its moment, crashed, and now has torched the nation—middle-class Americans most of all.

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beardedmrbean · 8 months

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President Joe Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act is packed with billions of dollars’ worth of credits and rebates for purchasing electric cars and making home improvements that save energy.

If you earn enough each year to owe the federal government money in taxes, then the credits that kicked in on Jan. 1 for buying an electric vehicle or setting up charging stations at home will shave thousands of dollars off your bill to the Internal Revenue Service.

But if you’re a low- and middle-income homeowner looking for help covering the cost of swapping a fuel-burning furnace for an electric heat pump, you’ll have to wait until later next year for a rebate. If your existing appliance breaks in the meantime and you go green with the replacement, there’s no guarantee you’ll get any money back.

“It’s completely unacceptable,” Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) told HuffPost by phone Friday.

On Monday, Huffman and at least 65 other House Democrats signed a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm demanding that her agency revise its rulebook to allow states to make all rebates retroactively available once states get programs started.

“If you’re one of the wealthy folks that can access tax credits, you’re doing just fine,” Huffman said. “But if you’re a middle-class or working family and you’re counting on those more generous rebates to make all of this feasible for you, the Department of Energy is telling you that you have to wait indefinitely: If you were dumb enough to go ahead and buy these things because we’ve all been telling you to do it, you’re out of luck.”

Improved energy efficiency with heat pump technology and new tax incentives have contributed to the popularity of heat pumps as many homeowners face increased heating costs.

The issue centers on a nearly $9 billion pot of funding in the IRA meant to help homeowners buy electric appliances and upgrade homes to cut back on energy usage. The federal government is set to give the money to states to distribute directly to homeowners. But it took until July 27 — nearly a year after the IRA’s passage — for the Department of Energy to finish writing its rulebook for determining who is eligible for rebates.

The guidance said appliances purchased between when the IRA passed and a state launches its rebate program would not be eligible for rebates — even though the law states that eligibility begins upon enactment of the statute.

In a historic law packed with incentives for corporations to buy electric vehicles and build solar-panel factories, the rebates were designed as one of the few consumer-facing programs and among the biggest to primarily benefit anyone who isn’t rich. That most homeowners won’t get a taste of those rebates until the fall of 2024 at the earliest will only make it harder for Democrats to sell voters on the legislation before they head to the polls next November.

The problem first came to light in Huffman’s home state of California, which arguably has the country’s most advanced existing rebate program for making energy-efficiency upgrades. In an Aug. 27 column, The San Francisco Chronicle’s Joe Garofoli detailed the woes of various homeowners who considered replacing fuel-burning furnaces with electric heat pumps until learning that the new federal rebates to cover as much as $8,000 of the $20,000 it could cost to buy and install the appliance were not guaranteed.

“This is California,” a Nevada City resident named Ken Bradford, who was waiting to replace his propane-fueled furnace, told the columnist. “You’d think that California would be ahead of the curve on this. But not so.”

The bottleneck, however, is on the federal level. California could not begin applying for its rebates program to distribute the IRA money until the federal Energy Department released its guidelines — which did not come out until July 27.

The state is now working on designing its program. But the California Energy Commission said it can’t guarantee that appliances purchased between now and the launch of its program sometime next year will be covered unless the Energy Department revises its guidance.

Despite months of back-and-forth with the Energy Department, Huffman said the agency has so far refused to change the rulebook.

An Energy Department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. ___________________

I always was told it was the GOP that was reducing taxes for the rich, so this is a shocker.

For an added layer of fun, go have a look at what's going on with medicare in California.

Huffman blamed understaffing for the delays in writing the rules in the first place and admitted that the highly technical nature of the rebate program made implementation difficult. He said he suspects the added complication of applying rebates retroactively is behind the holdup.

“It’s easier for bureaucrats to stand up a program that doesn’t apply retroactively; it’s easier to just make it point-of-sale, prospective only,” Huffman said. “It may take them another year and a half to do it, but it’s just easier for them.”

The IRA “clearly authorizes retroactive rebates, stating that Home Efficiency Rebates ‘shall’ be provided for ‘retrofits begun on or after the date of enactment’ and saying nothing to the contrary regarding the Home Electrification and Appliance Rebate,” the letter reads.

Until the administration begins distributing advanced administrative funds to help states hire for and develop their programs, the understaffing problems threaten to trickle down, further delaying payouts to homeowners, the letter said.

“Because of delays in finalizing program guidance and distributing administrative funds, we are informed that states may be unable to offer rebates until the Fall of 2024 or later, which would be more than two years after IRA enactment,” the letter reads. “We urge DOE to prioritize getting this critical program on a faster, more effective track by working with states, territories, and tribes to ensure there are no further delays or obstacles going forward.”

#nunyas news

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enberlight · 2 years

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Well this is good news!

There are two Biden programs for home improvement rebates. They cover updates that make homes more energy efficient, like windows, insulation, heat pumps, and switching gas appliances (like stoves and dryers) out for electric ones.

He's also made the home improvement tax credit annual instead of a one time only deal. So if you have to spread out your upgrades, you keep getting some back.

#news article #home rebates #home improvement #tax incentives #tax credits #into the void #good news #financial assistance

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splitminiusa · 8 months

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Energy Star Certified Ductless Heat Pump Systems

Ductless split-system air conditioners and heat pumps can qualify under the ENERGY STAR Central Air Conditioning (CAC) and Heat Pump specifications. Ductless split-system air conditioners and heat pumps, sometimes call mini-splits, are air conditioners or heat pumps that do not use ductwork for air distribution. Mini-splits are different than regular split-systems. They are used mostly for smaller area cooling. Some of these systems are capable of connecting to 2, 3 or even 4 indoor units to act as a single system. Mini-split systems are very common in Europe and Asia but are less than 5% of the US market.

Energy Star Tax Credit

Many people strive to live a more eco-conscious way of life. Living a greener lifestyle factors into multiple pertinent societal issues, from future planning to the planet’s wellbeing. For numerous years, people have pushed for more environmental-centered incentives, ensuring communities as a whole play their part in taking care of the earth. As part of the consistent fight for the environment, you can now claim a $300 energy star tax credit on qualifying HVAC systems.

Meet the Metrics

Heating and air-conditioning products pursuing ENERGY STAR certification are evaluated for how well they meet a handful of efficiency measurements, including their heating seasonal performance factor (HSPF), seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) and energy efficiency ratio (EER). To fully understand the weight behind the ENERGY STAR label, let’s discuss what each term means.

HSPF measures a heat pump’s efficiency during heating season and is calculated by dividing the total heating output (measured in British Thermal Units, or BTUs) by the total kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy consumed during the same period.

SEER is calculated with the same formula as HSPF but measures efficiency during cooling season. In a controlled environment, the tested heat pumps operate in a simulated cooling season with temperatures ranging from 65 to 104° F.

EER measures a heat pump’s cooling efficiency at peak outdoor conditions. The laboratory uses a simulated 95° F outdoor temperature and 50 percent humidity with an 80° F set point. BTUs are then divided by watts of energy used to find the EER.

Who Can Claim the Tax Credit?

All homeowners who recently purchased and installed an Energy Star–certified product qualify for the Energy Star credit.

If you’re in the market for a home appliance, air conditioner or heat pump system, you’ve likely seen the words “ENERGY STAR® certified.” Run by the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the ENERGY STAR program helps consumers save money and preserve the environment by choosing energy-efficient products. Thankfully, more new products than ever meet the certification’s stringent criteria, helping Americans reduce their carbon footprint.

#12000 btu mini split #24000 btu mini split #2 zone mini split #3 zone mini split #4 zone mini split

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notwiselybuttoowell · 9 months

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The odds of this reaching who this needs to via tumblr aside, I thought I should share this: if you live in the Skyway or White Center areas of Seattle, there's an opportunity to have a good chunk or even all of the cost of having a heat pump installed at your residence through this program! Very worthwhile as we continue to see an uptick in swealtering days each summer in a city that was never built for it.

Improve your home’s heating and cooling system and save money on your energy bills with a heat pump! King County’s Energize! program is offering heat pump installations in Skyway & White Center with up to 100% cost-coverage for income-qualified households.

The program includes free educational workshops, connection to a local installer, and hands-on consultation in your preferred language. Sign up to learn more at https://www.energizekingcounty.org/

#seattle #public programing #heat pumps #free things #(potentially)#sustainable housing #north highline #skyway #white center #west hill

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greentasticaustralia · 1 month

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#veu program #australia #heat pump #air conditioning #heat pump system #lighting #heat pump installation #heating and air conditioning

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batboyblog · 3 months

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Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week. #5

Feb 9-16 2024

The Department of Education released the first draft for a wide ranging student loan forgiveness plan. After Biden's first attempt at student debt forgiveness was struck down at the Supreme Court in 2023, this new plan is an attempt to replace it with something that will hold up in court. The plan hopes to forgive debt for anyone facing "financial hardship" which has been as broadly defined as possible. Another part of the plan hopes to eliminate $10-20,000 in interest from all student loans, as well as a wide ranging public Information push to inform people of other forgiveness programs they qualify for but don't know about.

The House passed 1.2 Billion Dollars to combat human trafficking, including $175 million in housing assistance to human trafficking victims

The Department of Transportation announced $970 Million for improvements at 114 airports across 44 states and 3 territories. They include $40 million to O'Hare International in Chicago to improve passenger experience by reconfiguring TSA and baggage claims, and installing ADA compliant bathrooms(!). The loans will also go to connecting airports to mass transit, boosted sustainability, installing solar and wind power, and expanding service to under served committees around the country.

Medicare & Medicaid released new guidelines to allow people to pay out of pocket prescription drug coats in monthly installments rather than as a lump sum. This together with capping the price of certain drugs and penalties for drug companies that rise prices over inflation is expected to save the public millions on drug coasts and assure people don't pass on a prescription because they can't pay upfront

The EPA announced its adding 150 more communities to its Closing America's Wastewater Access Gap Community Initiative. 2.2 Million Americans do not have basic running water and indoor plumbing. Broken and unreliable wastewater infrastructure exposed many of those to dangerous raw sewage. These Americans live primarily in poor and rural communities, many predominantly Black communities in the south as well as those on tribal lands. The program is aiming to close the wastewater gap and insure all Americans have access to reliable clear water.

The White House announced deferred action for Palestinians in the US. This means any Palestinian living in the United States, no mater their legal status, can not be deported for any reason for the next 18 months.

The Department of Energy announced $60 million in investment into clean geothermal energy. The plan will hopefully lead to a 90% decrease in the coasts of geothermal. DOE estimates hold that geothermal might be able to power the hopes of 65 million Americans by 2050 making it a key step in the Biden administration plan for a carbon-free grid by 2035 and net-zero emissions by 2050.

The EPA launched $83 million to help improve air quality monitoring across America. With updated equipment local agencies will be better able to report on air quality, give more localized reports of bad air quality and the country will be better equipped to start mitigating the problem

The Department of Energy announced $63 million in investments in domestic heat-pump manufacturing. Studies have shown that heat-pumps reduce green house gases by 50% over the most efficient condensing gas boilers, as technology improves this could rise to 75% by 2030. Heat pump water heaters meanwhile are 2 to 3 times as energy efficient as conventional electric water heaters.

HHS awarded $5.1 million to organizations working with LGBTQI+ Youth and their Families. The programs focus on preventing homelessness, fighting depression and suicide, drug use and HIV prevention and treatment, as well as family counseling and support interventions tailored for LGBTQI+ families.

The House passed two bills in support of the oppressed Uyghur minority in China. The "No Dollars To Uyghur Forced Labor" Act would prohibit the US government from spending any money on projects that source materials from Xinjiang. The Uyghur Policy Act would create a permanent post at the State Department to coordinate policy on Uyghur Issues, much like the special ambassador on antisemitism.

#Joe Biden #Thanks Biden #politics #US politics #Democrats #climate change #student loans #student loan forgiveness #green energy #Palestinians #Uyghur

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nationalfacilitiesdirect01 · 1 year

Text

The Ultimate Winter Facility Management Checklist

The winter season poses a whole new set of challenges when it comes to facility management. Freezing temperatures, along with snow and ice, have the potential to disrupt operations and affect the safety of occupants. Taking a proactive approach with some preventative maintenance and proper planning can help you mitigate these risks, avoid emergency repairs, and ensure a safe and comfortable environment for visitors during the colder months. From HVAC maintenance to snow and ice removal, here’s a checklist of helpful reminders to help you plan and prepare your facilities for winter.

Maintain HVAC Systems

Preventative HVAC maintenance ensures your heating systems work when you need them most. While you most likely have a preventative maintenance plan in place, these basic preparations can improve system efficiency and help get your system ready for winter.

Check and replace any air filters

Clean ductwork

Check for leaks

Calibrate thermostats

Check heat pumps

Inspect electrical connections

Clean out drain lines and pans to present freezing

Test humidity and temperature controls and monitors

Inspect Plumbing

Freezing temperatures can occasionally cause facility water system leaks and even flooding. Therefore, it’s important to be proactive and prepare plumbing and irrigation before winter.

Check for leaks at all fixtures and piping

Ensure pipes are insulated and sealed to prevent freezing, bursting, or flooding

Check operation of valves and shutoffs

Prepare for Power Outages

Strong storms, ice build-up on power lines, and other winter weather-related problems can lead to inconvenient power outages. Taking the necessary precautions to ensure the functionality of a secondary power source, like a backup generator, can help you avoid costly downtime.

Perform regular and preventative maintenance on power generators, like fluid changes and electrical connection checks

Test generators for operation and switchover before the incident

Ensure proper fuel supply for generators

Check for exposed wiring and remediate – especially in areas exposed to freezing temperatures and melting ice or snow

Make sure emergency lighting systems work properly and check all lightbulbs

Examine the Exterior of Your Buildings

Avoid emergency repairs in the middle of winter and give buildings and surrounding areas a thorough inspection to spot any potential trouble spots before winter sets in.

Inspect roofing for holes or damage that could cause leaks during snowmelt

Check for loose shingles and repair damage to existing seals and flashing

Clean debris from roofs and gutters to ensure proper drainage

Make sure all windows and doors have proper insulation

Regularly check the parking lot and sidewalks for cracks and potholes

Inspect siding

Keep an eye on possible landscaping threats like hanging tree limbs

Have a snow removal plan in place that includes walkways and parking lots

Keep entryways clean and safe with a deicer solution

Designate a spot to pile snow or have it professionally hauled away

Ensure lighting is operational or installed in these spaces to improve visibility

One Partner for All of Your Facility Management Needs

Facilities management is a year-round responsibility that involves careful planning and preparation. However, winter poses a new set of challenges that can strain even the most well-maintained facilities. Harsh winds, chilly conditions, heavy snowfall, ice, and lack of daylight can add extra stress to an already busy workload.

Partnering with an FM provider can help alleviate some of the stress that comes with the wintertime. From reduction of costs to optimizing your facility management programs for increased efficiency, the right partner can provide the support you need to take your operations to the next level this winter.

At National Facilities Direct, your problems are our problems, and we will work with you to provide a solution that meets your needs. Our customer-centric environment means we’ll stop at nothing to ensure you and your organization have the tools necessary to succeed. If you’re ready to cross items off your list with a facilities management partner you can trust, contact National Facilities Direct today!

Visit Our Website - https://nationalfacilitiesdirect.com/

#relationship building #Communication

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allthecanadianpolitics · 7 months

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Just days after saying there would be no more carbon tax ‘carve outs’ for home heating, the federal natural resources minister says relief is on the way for British Columbians. On Tuesday, both Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were adamant that the home heating oil tax break program announced last week would not be expanded. But after days of growing political pressure from the opposition and premiers, Wilkinson said Friday that Ottawa is going to sweeten the pot for British Columbians who still rely on home heating oil to make the switch to electric heat pumps. “What we have done is asked provinces to partner with us and make heat pumps free, both the pumps and the installation,” came Wilkinson’ surprise announcement, as part of a response to a Global News question at a Vancouver media event.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

#Heat Pumps #justin trudeau #british columbia #cdnpoli #canada #canadian politics

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nationalfacilitiesdirect · 1 year

Text

The Ultimate Winter Facility Management Checklist

Maintain HVAC Systems

Check and replace any air filters

Clean ductwork

Check for leaks

Calibrate thermostats

Check heat pumps

Inspect electrical connections

Clean out drain lines and pans to present freezing

Test humidity and temperature controls and monitors

Inspect Plumbing

Freezing temperatures can occasionally cause facility water system leaks and even flooding. Therefore, it’s important to be proactive and prepare plumbing and irrigation before winter.

Check for leaks at all fixtures and piping

Ensure pipes are insulated and sealed to prevent freezing, bursting, or flooding

Check operation of valves and shutoffs

Prepare for Power Outages

Perform regular and preventative maintenance on power generators, like fluid changes and electrical connection checks

Test generators for operation and switchover before the incident

Ensure proper fuel supply for generators

Check for exposed wiring and remediate – especially in areas exposed to freezing temperatures and melting ice or snow

Make sure emergency lighting systems work properly and check all lightbulbs

Examine the Exterior of Your Buildings

Avoid emergency repairs in the middle of winter and give buildings and surrounding areas a thorough inspection to spot any potential trouble spots before winter sets in.

Inspect roofing for holes or damage that could cause leaks during snowmelt

Check for loose shingles and repair damage to existing seals and flashing

Clean debris from roofs and gutters to ensure proper drainage

Make sure all windows and doors have proper insulation

Regularly check the parking lot and sidewalks for cracks and potholes

Inspect siding

Keep an eye on possible landscaping threats like hanging tree limbs

Have a snow removal plan in place that includes walkways and parking lots

Keep entryways clean and safe with a deicer solution

Designate a spot to pile snow or have it professionally hauled away

Ensure lighting is operational or installed in these spaces to improve visibility

One Partner for All of Your Facility Management Needs

Visit Website - https://nationalfacilitiesdirect.com

#Relationship building #communication

7 notes · View notes