Fight wildfire, smoky conditions — by replacing your old fossil fuel appliances

This opinion column was submitted by Dr. Debra Hendrickson, a Reno pediatrician and the Climate Advocate for the Nevada Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

No one in Northern Nevada needs to be told that wildfire smoke has become a major seasonal health problem. Every summer and fall, smoke rolls into town and my clinic fills with coughing, wheezing kids. What many parents don’t realize, though, is that our homes’ fossil fuel appliances are contributing to more extreme wildfires and longer smoke seasons in our region. 

That’s because many of our furnaces, hot water heaters and stoves are powered by natural gas, a fossil fuel which, when burned, produces planet-warming carbon dioxide. Additionally, each step required to bring that gas to our homes — extracting it, transporting it and piping it to appliances —  leaks methane, the gas’ main component and a powerful greenhouse pollutant. Gas use in buildings accounts for about 14% of Nevada’s greenhouse gas emissions, adding to the global warming that’s worsening wildfires across the West. 

As we plan for how to protect our families from wildfire smoke in the future, replacing gas appliances with electric alternatives will make our homes a crucial line of defense. For example, a heat pump provides space heating and cooling — eliminating the need for furnaces and air conditioners. With proper filters, heat pumps and air purifiers are very effective at removing wildfire smoke pollutants from indoor spaces. Incentives in the new federal climate law make heat pumps more affordable than ever. We can protect our children’s health and fight climate change, too.

These worsening wildfires and smoke, like many other aspects of climate change, disproportionately harm children’s health. Children breathe faster and their organs are still developing and growing. As a result, the same amount of air pollution harms them more than adults. Many respiratory illnesses — including pneumonia, bronchitis and COVID-19 — increase when smoke blankets our community. Other effects of smoke are harder to see. Smoke’s most dangerous pollutant, fine particulates, can invade any organ of the body once inhaled. In children, particulate inhalation has been associated with stunted lung growth and increased rates of asthma, allergies, autism and learning problems. 

Cooking on a gas stove makes indoor air quality even worse. Anyone who owns an air purifier to deal with smoke has seen it activate when a nearby gas stove is in use. Studies have shown that children are 42% more likely to suffer asthma symptoms if they live in homes with gas stoves. 

Now we can address both the climate and indoor air impacts of gas appliances. With the recently signed Inflation Reduction Act, Nevada homeowners can weatherize their homes and upgrade to electric heat pumps, induction cooktops, water heaters and clothes dryers. The largest incentives are available for low- to moderate-income households, but all households are eligible for tax credits for weatherization, solar and geothermal installations, and large home batteries, as well as a special $2,000 credit for heat pumps. 

All are important in Nevada’s transition to clean, home-grown energy. Electrifying appliances and getting power from renewable sources — through NV Energy’s Green Energy Program or your own solar — eliminates a home’s emissions, and may also lower your energy bill.

This yields immediate health benefits for children. Induction cooktops are pollution-free and protect children’s lungs. The IRA also helps protect homes from wildfire smoke. Weatherization helps prevent smoke infiltration, while heat pumps and air purifiers significantly reduce smoke pollution indoors.

Longer term, electrification will help protect children’s futures from the most extreme global warming scenarios. Nevada cannot meet its goal of “net zero emissions by 2050” without reducing natural gas use in buildings. Exchanging old fossil fuel appliances for new electric alternatives will help children around the globe — but especially those in our own homes. 

Dr. Debra Hendrickson is a Reno pediatrician and the Climate Advocate for the Nevada Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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