This week in buildings, land and industry decarbonization news, News from the States wrote about how the Trump Administration’s freeze of $27 billion in clean energy and energy efficiency funds has impacted programs around the country. The EPA terminated grants under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was created by the Inflation Reduction Act and already had funding dispersed to awardee’s bank accounts. The funding freeze, which followed a critical report from the EPA’s inspector general, is being litigated in courts.

Grist looked into the “irony” at the heart of every heat pump, which are key to moving past fossil fuels, but rely on chemicals that also are potent greenhouse gases. A common refrigerant called R-410A is used in the devices, but when it is released in the atmosphere it works as a greenhouse gas that is more than 2,000 times as powerful as carbon dioxide. Leaks can happen throughout a heat pump’s lifecycle. The industry is switching to less harmful refrigerants this year, in response to a rule from the EPA that the devices use refrigerants that have a global warming potential of no more than 700. 

Some late Biden Era efficiency standards are soon to be overturned with the Senate voting to overturn rules issued for gas water heaters, the Washington Examiner reported. The measure cleared the Senate in a 53-44 vote and the House approved it back in February so now it just needs to be signed by President Trump to go into effect. 

Canary Media covered a program to electrify homes on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard that the piece argues could serve as a model to be replicated around the country. The program is aimed at lower-income consumers and provides free or heavily subsidized solar panels and heat pumps to 55 participating households, 12 of which also got batteries. The program is unique because it includes solar and storage alongside traditional efficiency upgrades. The Cape Light Compact runs it, along with its main function of negotiating electric supply prices and administering efficiency programs for 21 towns in the area. 

Read more in this week’s intelligence report: