Despite what far-right pundits would have you believe, Joe Biden is not coming for your gas stoves.
Last week, accusations the Biden administration was planning to pass a nationwide ban on gas stoves went viral after the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) indicated they were considering regulating — not eliminating — the cooktops.
It’s a familiar topic in Bellingham, which last year became the third city in Washington to require new commercial and future residential buildings more than three stories tall to use electricity for heating, instead of natural gas. (That rule, however, still allows for the installation of gas kitchen appliances and fireplaces.)
But it’s fresh political meat for national commentators. In a Jan. 11 segment, Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson invited guests to discuss a potential gas stove ban, with the banner “banning gas stoves will ruin many businesses.”
“I would counsel mass disobedience in the face of tyranny in this case,” Carlson said. “There’s gotta be a limit to what people are going to put up with.”
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan tweeted his thoughts Thursday: “God. Guns. Gas stoves.”
The outrage over the ban, as often is the case, was based on a false premise. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Biden “does not support banning gas stoves,” and CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric agreed.
“I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so,” Hoehn-Saric said in a statement last week. “This spring, we will be asking the public to provide us with information about gas stove emissions and potential solutions for reducing any associated risks. This is part of our product safety mission — learning about hazards and working to make products safer.”
Pamela Rucker Springs, a CPSC spokesperson, told The Associated Press that it has not proposed any regulatory action on gas stoves.
“The chairman’s statement makes it explicit what we are planning and what we’re not planning,” Springs said. “Anything otherwise said is to the contrary.”
The uproar might be a little late. Though a national gas stove ban is not in the cards, local municipalities and states across the country are already implementing natural gas bans to support the fight against climate change, and address concerns about health issues. Many of those rules, as is the case in Bellingham, are primarily focused on heating systems, and aim to promote gradual conversion to electric ranges for existing homeowners.
Though gas stoves make up only about 8% of actual household methane use, they create some pretty significant health concerns, particularly for children.
A November 2022 study showed gas-burning stoves are associated with “an increased risk of current asthma among children,” and local environmental nonprofit RE Sources said gas-burning stoves emit dangerous pollutants like formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.
“In a house with a gas-burning stove, nitrogen dioxide levels are approximately 50-400 percent higher, exceeding outdoor EPA air quality limits. And we’re using outdoor air quality limits here because we don’t even know what indoor air pollution standards should be in the U.S.,” the group wrote in 2021, when Bellingham was considering a natural gas ban in future construction.
In 2022, Washington became the first state to ban gas-powered heat in new homes and apartment buildings, and requiring electric appliances in new commercial construction projects and residential buildings taller than four stories.
