A Republican bill passed the House this week with bipartisan support to prevent the Biden administration from banning gas stoves.
The bill, the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act, would bar the Consumer Product Safety Commission from banning gas stoves, but the legislation is unlikely to receive a vote in the Democratic-led Senate. Republicans are cheering the House vote as a win against President Joe Biden's anti-fossil fuel agenda. The bill passed by a 248-180 vote, with 29 Democrats joining the GOP.
"We know the motivation of the CPSC and throughout this entire administration is a green climate push," Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R., N.D.), who sponsored the legislation, said. "The goal is to dictate how you live every aspect of your life—how you save and invest for the future by pushing ESG, how you drive by banning gas-powered cars, and now the goal is to control how you cook."
The bill's passing comes after months of the Biden administration voicing support for such bans and mulling a federal measure. The administration argued this week that a gas stove ban in Berkeley, Calif., does not violate federal law. The town in 2019 was the first to enact a ban, but a federal judge struck it down this year, pointing to federal law that prohibits restrictions on natural gas appliances.
Eleven Democratic attorneys general urged the federal government to regulate gas stoves in early May. "The emissions from gas stoves pose severe health risks, especially for sensitive groups and underserved communities," a letter, led by Washington, D.C., attorney general Brian Schwalb, argued.
The attorneys general pushed the Consumer Product Safety Commission to "develop uniform" standards for gas stoves to "increase consumer awareness" of "health risks."
The controversy surrounding gas stoves began when it was reported in January that the Biden administration was pursuing strict regulations of the appliances. The media largely mocked conservatives who raised concern over the reports. One Time headline read, "How Gas Stoves Became the Latest Right-Wing Cause in the Culture Wars."
The Biden administration, however, admitted that its proposed regulations on gas stoves would ban the sale of half of all gas stoves on the U.S. market.
The New York legislature last month passed a law barring gas stoves from new buildings. Democratic governor Kathy Hochul defended the measure, saying, "We do have to transition."
Climate activists in April asked the Biden administration to stop using the term "natural gas" and instead use a less friendly term like "fossil gas" or "methane gas."