Heinrich Welcomes Biden Executive Action On Heat Pumps, Electrification

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Founder and Co-Chair of the Electrification Caucus in Congress, welcomed President Joe Biden’s announcement today that he will invoke the Defense Production Act to accelerate the domestic production of clean energy technologies, including heat pumps, which run on electricity rather than fossil fuels, heat and cool buildings very efficiently, and lower costs for families and businesses. 

“By deploying the Defense Production Act to supercharge American manufacturing of heat pumps and other critical clean energy technologies, President Biden is taking decisive action to lower energy costs for families, improve public health, and meet our climate responsibility. Manufacturing heat pumps at scale will help more Americans purchase these super-efficient, clean, and electric appliances,”said Heinrich, who in March, urged President Biden to employ his existing executive authorities to advance the development and widespread adoption of clean energy and energy-efficient electric technologies, such as heat pumps.

“Now that the President has taken these major steps, the Senate needs to do our part to pass transformative climate investments, clean energy tax credits, and rebates to help more families access all the benefits that come from these technologies of the future,” Heinrich continued.

Senator Heinrich has been a vocal advocate for the adoption of clean energy alternatives to secure American energy independence.

In March, Heinrich authored an op-ed in The Hill with Rewiring America’s CEO Ari Matusiak calling on the U.S. to lead the widespread electrification of the appliances in our homes—and in the homes of our allies in Europe—to scale up new manufacturing opportunities, reduce dangerous climate warming pollution, achieve significant savings on our energy bills, and cut off any dependence on Russia’s hydrocarbons.

In September, Heinrich led a hearing in the Joint Economic Committee to examine how the electrification of homes and buildings can help families and small businesses save money, improve health outcomes, and serve as a critical investment in the fight to address the long-term effects of climate change. 

Last April, Senator Heinrich introduced the Electrifying America’s Future Resolution to advance the vision of widespread electrification in the U.S. In a guest essay in The New York Times, he called for electrifying large parts of the U.S. economy and changing the supply of that electricity from polluting fuels to clean energy.