A memo suggests that the Biden-appointed federal regulator seriously considered banning gas stoves before igniting a firestorm, saying “every option is on the table.”
Fox News reported Thursday that Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. wrote a memo to another commissioner on Oct. 24, 2022, saying there was enough evidence for the CPSC to begin the rulemaking process to ban new gas stoves to initiate
“The need for gas stove regulation has reached a boiling point,” Trumka said.
It was unclear if the pun was intentional.
“CPSC has a responsibility to ban consumer products that emit hazardous substances, particularly when those emissions harm children, under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act,” Trumka wrote. “Recent evidence is sufficient to conclude that domestic gas stoves emit toxic gases that cause illness and that cheaper, safer alternatives are available.”
A memo from Richard Trumka Jr. (left), appointed by President Joe Biden (right), shows the gas stove ban was on the table in October. Trumka unleashed a firestorm around the devices, according to a Bloomberg interview in January
Trumka argued that gas stoves have been linked to higher rates of childhood asthma, noting that the appliances are already banned in new builds in New York and Los Angeles “for health and unjust reasons.”
Trumka pointed out that New York and Los Angeles had already banned the stoves in the new building for “health and injustice reasons”.
He also said they contributed to climate change.
“There is enough information for CPSC to issue an NPR in fiscal year 2023 proposing to ban gas stoves in homes,” he said. “The additional work required to complete an NPR is primarily economic; the available health and scientific evidence for diseases caused by the relevant gases at the concentrations present in households with gas stoves is already available.’
Trumka’s memo came three months before the Bloomberg interview, in which he called them a “hidden danger” and pointed to new research linking the devices to childhood asthma.
The comments sparked an outcry from the political right, and the White House was forced to respond.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president “does not support a ban on gas stoves.”
“And the independent Consumer Product Safety Commission doesn’t ban gas stoves,” Jean-Pierre said at her Jan. 11 briefing.
Ahead of the briefing, Trumka tweeted, stating, “To be clear, CPSC isn’t coming for anyone’s gas stoves. Regulations apply to new products.”
Still, Republicans rushed to defend the right to gasoline.
GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson, a former White House doctor, said he’d rather die than electrocook.
“I will NEVER give up my gas stove. When the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can snatch it from my cold, dead hands. COME AND TAKE IT!!’ Jackson said.
When Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that “continuous exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is associated with decreased cognitive performance,” Jackson hit out at her — and shared a photo of the New York congressmen’s gas stove.
“AOC Says Gas Stoves Cause ‘Decreased Cognitive Performance’ – Yet Does She Use a Gas Stove? Is that a self-diagnosis?’ Jackson tweeted. “AOC, as a doctor, I can tell you this: What’s wrong with your head is NOT caused by stoves. Something MUCH BIGGER is causing your decreased cognitive function!’
Jackson even went so far as to set up a URL – SaveTheStoves.com – that links to a WinRed fundraising page that asks visitors to sign a petition but also signs them up for texts and calls from Jackson’s congressional campaign.
“We can’t let the crazies in the White House get away with this! Add your name to the official petition now to save our ovens!’ says the website.
A number of Republicans referenced a 2020 tweet showing First Lady Jill Biden cooking vegetables over gas.
“Rules for you but not for me,” GOP Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted, sharing the picture of the first lady.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — and potential GOP 2024 hopeful — kept the gas stove controversy alive this week by proposing a permanent sales tax holiday for the appliances.
“They want your gas stove, and we’re not going to let that happen,” the Republican said.