I agree with most of this post, while I feel it may be hand-waving away from of the details.
For example,
>changing out my furnace for a heat pump is not going to have a big impact on how I live my life
A heat pump is a significant investment which would put the majority of American families into financial turmoil. There needs to be much larger government incentive for these units, for reducing this 12% of emissions to be viable.