This week in buildings, land and industry decarbonization, NetZero Insider’s John Cropley wrote about the Vermont PUC recommending against setting up a clean heat program in the state. The commission found the program would cost $956 million over its first decade, while only leading to greenhouse gas cuts that are worth $477 million. The commission recommended other approaches, such as a fuel tax, thermal efficiency benefit charge or biofuel blending requirement.

NPR had a story on how the Biden administration got out funding for home energy retrofits to nearly two dozen states just before leaving office. The funds include $260 million for Pennsylvania, $183 million for New Jersey and $66 million for Delaware, according to WHYY. After President Donald Trump took office, he ordered federal agencies to pause spending under the Inflation Reduction Act, which authorized the efficiency retrofit funds. 

The Globe and Mail, the Toronto newspaper and one of the largest in Canada, reported that Trump’s push against energy efficiency will impact citizens because of how the Canadian and U.S. economies are tied together. 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other state attorneys general sued the federal government over a late Biden administration rule banning non-condensing instantaneous natural gas water heaters, Hoodline reports. The rule was issued Dec. 26, less than a month before Trump’s inauguration, and other groups including the National Propane Association and the National Homebuilders Association oppose it. 

Finally, the Institute for Energy Economic and Financial Analysis posted a piece arguing that hydrogen does not make sense to replace end-use natural gas for cooking and heating. Some utilities want to blend hydrogen and natural gas, but the article argues that blends with more than 50% hydrogen carry health and safety risks. Transporting hydrogen requires more compression than natural gas, meaning more energy in that process. The gas also faces competition from efficiency and heat pumps, and its availability is likely to be limited. 

Read other stories in this week’s Intelligence Report: