When news spread in January that the Biden administration and left-wing advocates were looking to ban gas appliances in the name of climate change, left-wing media assured their audience that the notion was right-wing gaslighting. Since then, however, Democrat-led cities and states have charged ahead with such bans.
This week, New York's Democrat-led legislature passed the first statewide ban, prohibiting gas stoves and heating systems in new buildings starting in 2026. San Francisco city regulators voted in March to eliminate gas furnaces and water heaters by 2027.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety commissioner Richard Trumka Jr., who was appointed by President Joe Biden, in January ignited the debate when he signaled that a ban on gas stoves was "on the table." Later reports revealed that the green energy group behind the push partnered with China to implement an "economy-wide transformation" away from oil and gas. Biden's Energy Department in February acknowledged that roughly half of gas stoves on the market would not meet its newly proposed appliance regulations, the Washington Free Beacon reported. Liberal media sources were nonetheless convinced that the idea was a GOP-ignited rumor:
New York Times: "No One Is Coming for Your Gas Stove Anytime Soon"
Time: "How Gas Stoves Became the Latest Right-Wing Cause in the Culture Wars"
Salon: "Rumors of a gas stove ban ignite a right-wing culture war"
MSNBC: "No, the woke mob is not coming for your gas stove"
Associated Press: "FACT FOCUS: Biden administration isn't banning gas stoves"
Washington Post: "GOP thrusts gas stoves, Biden's green agenda into the culture wars"
MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle: "You might think that the U.S. government is coming for your gas stove. That is a new and absolutely ridiculous one."
NBC late-night host Seth Meyers: "GOP have been stoking a ridiculous new freak-out about gas stoves. … No one is taking your gas stove."
Since New York passed its ban, the media have taken to praising Gov. Kathy Hochul's (D.) climate initiative. CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir said New York's ban is "one step closer to a world without fossil fuel pollution."
"New York is banning gas stoves," Republican senator Tom Cotton (Ark.) said on Monday. "Just like the Biden administration tried to do before they got caught. So much for a right-wing conspiracy!"