Stephen Porder's house on a cold day

Most of us know, in the back of our heads, that we’re making choices that hurt the planet and our future. But what should we do instead?

That’s why Possibly exists. We talk to experts and everyday people to tackle environmental questions and find real solutions buried in all the noise.

Today’s story: This Cold House. Can we heat our homes without cooking the planet?

Here in Rhode Island, home heating probably accounts for 1/3 of all your CO2 emissions, the same emissions that are making hurricanes more powerful, droughts more drastic, and wildfires more common. But how do we cut down on that 33%? We need to heat our homes, don’t we? 

In this story, we visit two Rhode Island houses to find out.

On the East side, we have Stephen Porder – a Brown environmental scientist who spent thousands of dollars to make his home extremely energy efficient.

In North Providence, we have Megan Hall – a writer who knows her house is not that great when it comes to burning gas and wasting electricity, but she doesn’t have a lot of money, or a lot of time. 

Can someone like Megan make affordable, energy efficient changes to her home? Will these renovations make sense for her family? And how much of a difference will they make?

Possibly is a partnership between Rhode Island Public Radio and Brown University.

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