New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D.) on Wednesday defended her state's ban on gas stoves, which the Democrat-led state legislature passed late Tuesday.
Starting in 2026, new buildings with seven or fewer stories will have to use induction ranges and electric heat pumps. Larger buildings will make the transition in 2029, according to the bill. The new mandate does not affect any existing buildings. "This is how you transition," Hochul said, defending the bill in an interview with Fox 5.
"Just like we had to go … a long time ago to transition from coal as your energy source, we do have to transition. There are clean energy alternatives. It's going to take time," Hochul said.
Though New York is the first state to pass such a bill, Democrats and climate activists across the country have been pushing the controversial mandate for months. U.S. Consumer Product Safety commissioner Richard Trumka Jr., a Biden appointee, signaled in January that a gas stove ban was "on the table." In February, the Biden administration's Energy Department acknowledged that roughly half of gas stoves on the market would not meet its newly proposed appliance regulations, the Washington Free Beacon reported. Washington State recently updated its building codes to require the installation of heat pumps in new buildings, the Associated Press reported.
The New York bill passed as part of Hochul's newest budget proposal.
"I want to be very clear. I know people love to misinterpret this, but people with existing gas stoves, you're welcome to keep them," Hochul said Tuesday. "This is where our nation has to go eventually. … But I want to make sure that it's not a bumpy road to the transition."
"We are taking these steps now because climate change remains the greatest threat to our planet, and to our children and grandchildren," Hochul said in January.
Critics of the bill argue it will raise the costs of new construction and strain the electrical grid. Additionally, scientists have questioned the objectivity and accuracy of a study often cited to support the ban, which attributed 13 percent of U.S. childhood asthma cases to gas stoves. The environmental group behind the study worked with the Chinese government to push "an economy-wide transformation" away from gas and oil, the Free Beacon reported in January.