Govt. May Award Cash for Winterizing Your Home

The New York Times reports that John Doerr, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, and former President Bill Clinton have separately suggested a home energy spin-off of the popular Cash for Clunkers program.

Dubbed “Cash for Caulkers,” the program would give households money for weatherization projects. Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s chief of staff, tells reporter David Leonhardt the proposed program is “one of the top things he’s looking at.”

The three main sources of greenhouse gas emissions from homes are electricity use, heating and waste, according the EPA. Photo: Flickr/Jared Zimmerman

The Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) program ended in August, resulting in around 700,000 cars soldn thanks to the month-long program and its roughly $3 billion budget. The initiative was deemed a success as car dealerships across the U.S. moved vehicles off their lots, something that had been quite difficult in recent months.

But the CARS program pulled in more than just car sales. Economists estimated that the initiative yielded about 700,000 to 1.5 million jobs. Advocates for the weatherization program say it could produce similar results, creating jobs in the slumping construction industry.

According to The New York Times, the Doerr plan would cost $23 billion over the course of two years, and a chunk of the funding would go to home weatherization projects, around $2,000 to $4,000 in incentives.

However, the homeowner would pay at least 50 percent of the project’s total cost. Additionally, about $3 billion would be set aside for retailers and contractors, a trade-off to program promotion, similar to car dealerships and the Cash for Clunkers program.

According to the EPA, in the U.S., approximately 4 metric tons of CO2 equivalent (almost 9,000 pounds) per person per year (about 17 percent of total U.S. emissions) are emitted from homes. The EPA has an in-depth program that produces a rough, “ballpark” estimate of your personal or family’s greenhouse gas emissions and explores the impact of taking various actions to reduce your emissions.