As solar and wind become the nation’s major power generation sources, a transition to home heating and cooling systems, appliances and vehicles that run on clean electricity is needed. Twenty-four million more electrified machines will need to be purchased and installed over the next three years to keep on pace to achieve the country’s climate goal of 0% carbon emissions by 2050. Achieving that ambitious goal largely depends on Americans’ preferences, motivations, and abilities to make the transition as well as the market’s ability to respond.
The most recent Climate Change in the American Mind survey found that a majority (60%) of Americans prefer a home in which all (31%) or most (25%) major appliances are powered by electricity. Only one-fifth of Americans indicated a preference for a home with most or all major appliances powered by fossil fuel natural gas, propane, or oil. They found that the preferences vary across political, racial/ethnic, and geographic groups, with disparities between black, white, and Hispanic/Latino people, as well as between urban, suburban, and rural households. View results here.
The 2023 survey was conducted by Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication in collaboration with Rewiring America and the 2035 initiative.