Turns Out They Are Coming for Your Gas Stoves

New Biden ‘efficiency’ rule would ban half of gas stoves on the U.S. market Getty Images

According to an Energy Department projection, a new rule by the Biden Administration on cooking appliances would effectively prohibit half of all U.S.-market gas stoves from being sold.

In an earlier month analysis, President Joe Biden’s Energy Department revealed that nearly half of U.S. gas stoves would not meet the proposed cooking appliance efficiency standards. E&E News reported Friday. These stoves will not be available for purchase. Jeremy Ortiz, an Energy Department spokesperson, dismissed any concerns about the proposal, stating that half of the gas stove market is covered. “would remain if this standard is finalized as proposed.”

The Energy Department’s admission comes approximately one month after Richard Trumka Jr. from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, a Biden appointee said that a gas stove ban had been approved. “on the table.” “This is a hidden hazard,” Trumka Jr. mentioned gas cooking. “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”

Trumka Jr.’s comments caused a political firestorm. The White House and the Consumer Product Safety Commission reacted to the threat. Karine Jean Pierre, Biden’s press secretary was able to reassure Americans. “the president does not support banning gas stoves.” However, the Energy Department’s new rule, and subsequent analysis, contradict that walkback. The home appliance industry is responding fiercely.

For example, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers argues that the rule would prevent a larger number of gas stoves being sold. Association vice president Jill Notini pointed to a December Energy Department test of 21 gas stoves models—all but one of those models failed to meet the proposed rule’s efficiency standards, prompting charges that the rule would actually nullify 96 percent of the gas stove market.

“It’s like they’re in such a rush to regulate these products, and they’re trying to cover their tracks,” Notini told E&E. “But they’re doing an incredibly poor job of it. We’ve never seen this level of sloppy analysis from DOE before.” The Energy Department reacted to Notini’s claims “misleading.”

Trumka Jr. called for the banning of gas stoves after a controversial December study found that gas-stove usage was responsible for 13 percent of childhood asthma cases in the United States. Rocky Mountain Institute, a Colorado-based green energy nonprofit, is the one behind the study.