Modern electric appliances are often more efficient than burning fossil fuels. For example, the electric motors in cars are just inherently a lot more efficient than gas motors, not to mention less mechanically complicated, quieter, etc. (One of the reasons that electric cars today already have the lowest lifetime cost of ownership.)

At Rewiring America they found that electrifying all American cars, heating/cooling, appliances, etc would save 40-50% over fossil fuel equivalents just because of the inherent efficiency of electric machinery. This makes the problem of decarbonization 40-50% easier.

That makes no sense. For the entire life of the electric appliance you are emitting double or perhaps triple the carbon dioxide of the equivalent natural gas appliance.

First switch the electric grid to not use natural gas and only then think about changing appliances.

Do you have a reference for that?

I think it is market specific depending on the makeup of your areas grid.

As far as cost in many markets a heat pump is more cost efficient today compared to electric AC and gas furnace.

https://www.breakthroughenergy.org/our-challenge/the-green-p...