https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/If-Portland-can-hit-116-degrees-so-can-San-16382454.php Skip to main content Currently Reading If Portland can hit 116 degrees, so can San Francisco. 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We're not ready Olga Mandrussow Aug. 12, 2021Updated: Aug. 13, 2021 5:41 p.m. Facebook Twitter Email Comments A paramedic treats a man experiencing heat exposure during June's heat wave in Oregon.Nathan Howard/Associated Press If Portland, Ore., can hit 116 degrees, so can San Francisco. As the consequences of climate change intensify, it's only a matter of time before a heat wave as blistering as the one that claimed hundreds of lives in the Northwest this summer strikes the Bay Area, where the consequences could be even more deadly. Only 47% of the San Francisco metro area's 1.7 million households have air conditioning -- the second lowest rate of any major city in the U.S., and much lower than the national average of 87% of homes. Historically, there hasn't been a need for cooling in San Francisco homes -- but if this summer has taught us anything, it's that precedents can no longer be trusted to predict future extremes. If a Portland-style heat wave were to strike San Francisco today, hundreds of people would probably die, with the elderly, the unhoused, outdoor workers, and those with pre-existing health conditions being among the most vulnerable. Our leaders should not wait until a mass casualty event strikes to increase resiliency. We need to start equipping homes with cooling now. And there is a pathway for doing so that can actually cut climate pollution. Opinion * Opinion 'Comfort women,' from WWII to Andrew Cuomo By Lillian Sing with Gitika Nalwa * Opinion Here's how PG&E negligence almost certainly led to the... By Alison Cordova * Opinion The Tokyo Olympics showed Americans the 'Asian Joy' we... By Evelyn I. Rodriguez Highly-efficient electric heat pumps -- which provide both cooling in the summer and heating in the winter -- are perhaps the most essential technology on the market for eliminating pollution from buildings. Not only do heat pumps use 50 to 70% less energy than other cooling and heating systems, they also eliminate the need for fossil fuel furnaces during the winter months. This last point is key. To meet state climate targets, fossil fuels like gas in buildings will need to be phased out entirely in the coming decades. Replacing a gas furnace with a clean electric heat pump cuts climate pollution 75% immediately, while also delivering urgently-needed cooling capacity to households. There are dozens of quality, low-cost heat pump systems on the market now -- and innovation continues, including work on a heat pump system design that could be installed by the buyer, without professional help. To expand access to heat pumps, the city of San Francisco offers rebates for heat pumps through BayREN -- but more is needed, and local policymakers are exploring policy pathways. Last month, Supervisors Gordon Mar and Rafael Mandelman convened city departments and activists for a brainstorming session to discuss policy strategies for expanding the use of highly efficient electric appliances like heat pumps in homes. One policy lever that San Francisco leaders should explore is ending rebates for fossil fuel appliances like gas furnaces, and redirecting these funds to subsidies for heat pumps. California utility customers currently bankroll $80 million annually in subsidies for gas appliances that increase air pollution and decrease resiliency. Washington, D.C., recently led the nation in ending subsidies for new gas appliances -- and San Francisco should follow their lead, while prioritizing subsidies for heat pumps to historically marginalized and vulnerable communities. Local leaders in San Francisco have policy options available that can make significant headway on equipping homes with heat pumps. But to get heat pumps into all of the San Francisco homes and buildings that could benefit from them, state leadership is also needed. About Opinion Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership. Read more about our transparency and ethics policies Right now, California is debating a funding package to expand resiliency programs that help communities adapt to climate change. Two of the programs under consideration for additional funding could play a key role in expanding access to heat pumps in the schools and low-income communities where they are needed most. First, state leaders should expand funding in the Low-Income Weatherization Program, which provides energy efficiency upgrades, including heat pumps, to low-income families at no costs to residents. Low-income households and historically marginalized communities are most vulnerable during heat waves -- and most burdened by high electricity rates -- and should be first in line for state funding for energy-saving, resilience building heat pumps. Second, state leaders should increase investments in the TECH Program, which is aimed at expanding the market for heat pump technologies by increasing rebates for heat pumps and working with manufacturers, distributors and vendors to overcome barriers to widespread adoption. In addition to targeting existing buildings for heat pump upgrades, it is also essential that the homes California builds today are built to keep families safe during periods of extreme heat. State leaders took a major step forward on this on Wednesday by voting to approve the first building code in the nation to include heat pumps as a baseline technology -- a move that will dramatically expand their use in homes built from 2023 onwards. 116 degree heat in Portland, Ore. should serve as a wake-up call. No place in the United States is safe from extreme heat -- and San Francisco is no exception. It's time to invest in resiliency and climate solutions with heat pumps. Olga Mandrussow is a Sierra Club San Francisco Group Conservation Committee member. About Opinion Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership. 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