WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Joe Biden persuaded Democrats in Congress to provide hundreds of billions of dollars to fight climate change. Now comes another formidable task: enticing Americans to buy millions of electric cars, heat pumps, solar panels and more efficient appliances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a public relations challenge that could determine whether the country meets Biden\u2019s ambitious goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Relying on tax credits and rebates made\u00a0the climate legislation \u2014 it was approved in August with only Democratic votes \u2014\u00a0more politically palatable than regulations that force wholesale changes in polluting industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it also means the administration\u2019s battle against global warming will be waged \u201cone household at a time,\u201d said Shannon Baker-Branstetter, who works on energy issues at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank closely aligned with the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is very incremental,\u201d she said. \u201cSo it requires a very sophisticated communications strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden acknowledged the hurdle during a recent Cabinet meeting as he talked about the incentives that are becoming available this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFolks need to know how to take advantage of these benefits that we passed. That\u2019s on all of us around the table here to make sure we get that message out clearly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House says it is piecing together a plan to partner with state governments, contractors, retailers and social media influencers to get the word out. \u201cLowering utility bills is going to be a key driver,\u201d said Josh Peck, a senior policy adviser on clean energy issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s also collaborating with Rewiring America, a nonprofit focused on ways to electrify homes and businesses, and companies like Airbnb, Redfin and Lyft. As part of the effort, Rewiring America created\u00a0an online calculator\u00a0that shows what credits or rebates homeowners might be eligible for, depending on their ZIP code and income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Buying a heat pump or installing solar panels is \u201ca major expense line and a major opportunity for savings,\u2033 said Ari Matusiak, the group\u2019s founder and CEO. \u201cSo it\u2019s really important to make sure people are aware of the resources they have available and the benefits they can unlock in terms of bringing energy bill savings.\u2033<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the White House faces an uphill battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polling shows that while Americans support action to slow climate change, they are broadly unaware of the Inflation Reduction Act, the massive legislation that includes financial incentives to lower emissions, and\u00a0skeptical of their own role\u00a0in the climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An AP-NORC poll released in September, one month after the law was signed, found that 61% of U.S. adults said they knew little to nothing about the legislation. And despite the multibillion-dollar investment in climate solutions, only a third said it would help climate change; about half said it wouldn\u2019t make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House says it\u2019s not rattled by the results. The goal is to make sure consumers know the financial benefits of energy efficient products at the moment that they\u2019re making key decisions on which products to buy, Peck said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the challenges here is trying to meet consumers where they are when they make decisions about these purchases,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Majorities of U.S. adults said they are unlikely to install solar panels or buy an electric vehicle in the next three years, according to the AP-NORC poll. Among those, at least half said financial incentives would not make a difference in their decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Homeowners typically are reluctant to swap out furnaces or water heaters until they absolutely have to shell out the money for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne day the heat won\u2019t turn on and it\u2019s negative 10 (degrees) outside and you say, \u2018Oh crap, I\u2019ve got to get a furnace,\u2019\u201d said DR Richardson, co-founder of Elephant Energy, a Colorado company that helps homeowners install electric heat pumps and other appliances. \u201cSo the biggest challenge from our perspective, and from a climate perspective, is to get people to think ahead of time about how to replace these assets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most homeowners don\u2019t understand what equipment qualifies for a rebate or a tax credit \u2014 and even contractors are not always aware, Richardson said. While some heat pumps qualify for a full rebate, others do not or are only eligible for partial rebates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s just a nightmare if you\u2019re not used to working in building spreadsheets to analyze and understand all this stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not all of the incentives are ready either. While people can get a tax break on the cost of an electric car,\u00a0solar panels or heat pump,\u00a0rebates for low- and middle-income Americans seeking to make their homes more energy efficient are not yet available. The Energy Department is still developing the system to distribute that money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cecilia Mu\u00f1oz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council in the Obama administration, said she learned in her tenure that it\u2019s critical for government to invest in the delivery of policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToo often we as advocates and policymakers applaud when policy gets enacted and then stop paying attention,\u201d she said. Instead, they need to design ways to target people directly to help them \u201cunderstand the steps that they can take and the ways that the government is going to make it easy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Energy Department has begun releasing information to states about their allotment of $9 billion to support household energy upgrades, including weatherizing homes and installing heat pumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Biden, a self-described \u201ccar guy,\u201d has been doing his part to promote electric vehicles, making appearances at the\u00a0Detroit car show\u00a0in September and on the TV series \u201cJay Leno\u2019s Garage.\u2033<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Donnel Baird, founder and CEO of BlocPower, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based company that partners with utilities, government agencies and building owners to improve energy efficiency, has worked with Lowe\u2019s and other retailers to promote green appliances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea, Baird said, is that \u201cthe checkout person says, \u2018You know, you can get a tax credit if you don\u2019t get that gas lawn mower and get a green one instead.\u2019\u2033 While such engagement may not have immediate results, Baird said he\u2019s confident the tax credits and other benefits of the climate law will become better known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt took years for the ACA to get going,\u2033 he said, referring to the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. \u201cI think the same thing could happen with this law.\u2033<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dan Pfeiffer, a former top communications adviser to President Barack Obama, sees another lesson in the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe ACA got more popular the more that Republicans tried to repeal it,\u201d he said, suggesting that Biden take advantage of any Republican efforts to roll back to the Inflation Reduction Act to draw more attention to the law\u2019s benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have no doubt the White House has thought of all of this,\u201d Pfeifer said. But the problem is that none of it is easy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added: \u201cThe bulk of the work starts now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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