With the federal government retreating from climate action, cities and states have increasingly stepped in to ease emissions and address the crisis. But new research finds that those efforts often fail to reach renters — one of the largest and most vulnerable segments of the housing market — leaving a persistent gap in local climate policy.
Roughly one-third of U.S. households rent, according to a Redfin analysis of Census Bureau data — about 46 million in all, and they tend to be lower income. Yet many rebates, incentives, and other programs aimed at improving energy efficiency or getting a home off of fossil fuels are targeted at landlords, even though it’s tenants who usually pay the utility bills.
Those programs often focus on upgrades like installing heat pumps or higher-efficiency appliances, or improving insulation. But because property owners typically don’t cover day-to-day energy costs, they have little motivation to make those investments, even when they would lower emissions and reduce tenants’ bills. Economists call this dilemma a “split-incent... Read more
