Regulators try to kill gas stoves, preferred by over one-third of Americans, just not Biden-Harris
The Biden-Harris administration insists that gas stoves are not being targeted. Don’t believe a word of it.
This kitchen controversy erupted in January 2023, when Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. told the media that his agency is investigating the safety of natural gas stoves and that a ban on them was "a real possibility." His remarks sparked a powerful consumer backlash against such government meddling, followed by assurances from the Biden-Harris administration that no stove restrictions were in the works.
Denials aside, Washington bureaucrats really were targeting gas stoves then — and they still are today. They are just getting sneakier in how they go about it.
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Gone — at least for now — are the direct regulatory assaults on the type of stove preferred by 38% of American households and the clear choice of serious cooks. Biden-Harris appointee Trumka Jr. has stopped talking about a ban, although it should be noted that he was never asked to leave his job and that CPSC’s investigation into gas stoves hasn’t been shut down.
The Biden-Harris administration continues to attack natural gas use with additional regulations. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
And another agency, the Department of Energy (DOE), which in February 2023 proposed a harsh new energy efficiency standard for stoves that was a thinly veiled crackdown on gas models in favor of electric versions, decided to go with a much less stringent standard that most gas stoves can also meet.
In other words, the two federal agencies that were directly threatening gas stoves have responded to public opposition by toning it down considerably, though neither has stopped completely.
Rather than fighting gas stoves head on, the Biden-Harris administration is now focused on going after gas hookups. Needless to say, you can’t use a gas stove if you don’t have natural gas service in your home or apartment, and the feds are using multiple agencies and programs to expand that limitation to as many Americans as possible in the years ahead.
Dozens of left-leaning cities across the country – as well as the state of New York - have banned or are considering banning natural gas hookups in new construction. And now, the Biden-Harris administration is providing them with legal and financial help. For example, the U.S. Department of Justice took the side of the city of Berkeley, California in a federal court challenge to its gas ban brought by a group of restaurant owners. Fortunately, the restaurant owners prevailed on the grounds that Berkeley is preempted by federal law from targeting gas appliances.
In a brief filed with the court, Justice Department lawyers supported the city’s far-fetched assertion that banning natural gas outright does not count as a restriction on gas stoves. The court dispensed with this phony distinction, saying that "Berkeley can’t bypass preemption by banning natural gas piping within buildings rather than banning natural gas products themselves."
However, state and local governments wanting to block natural gas access have vowed to find other ways to do it that pass muster, and doubtless they will continue to get legal assistance from Washington. They will also get financial help from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which provides federal money to change state and local building codes to discourage gas availability.
The feds are also using the power of the purse with homebuilders. This includes an incentive program (also from the Inflation Reduction Act) for builders of single and multi-family housing units that forego natural gas and run exclusively on electricity.
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In another line of attack on the blue flame, the administration is initiating steps to turn natural gas availability into an obstacle in qualifying for federally backed home mortgages. This includes the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and its Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage programs.
Richard L. Trumka Jr. is a commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). He told the media that his agency was investigating the safety of natural gas stoves and that a ban on them was "a real possibility." (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)
For example, HUD is working with the Department of Energy on guidelines to end all greenhouse gas emissions from homes and buildings, a goal which can only be achieved by avoiding natural gas use. HUD also joined the Department of Agriculture in adopting energy efficiency standards that new homes must meet in order to qualify for federal financing. These standards include voluntary electrification provisions that states are encouraged to adopt.
Granted, none of these measures has yet to harden into a ban on government assistance to buyers of natural gas-supplied homes. But the longer-term message to home builders is clear – it is time to consider transitioning to electricity only, or your homes may run into hurdles in qualifying for government-backed loans.
Ironically, the primary purpose of these federal mortgage programs is to make housing more affordable, especially for first-time and low-income families, but the current administration has prioritized policies likely to make things costlier. For example, the National Association of Homebuilders estimates cost increases up to $31,000 per home for HUD’s new efficiency standards.
The feds are also using the power of the purse with homebuilders. This includes an incentive program (also from the Inflation Reduction Act) for builders of single and multi-family housing units that forego natural gas and run exclusively on electricity.
This agenda comes to us from climate change activists who view natural gas negatively as a fossil fuel that contributes to planetary warming. And the Biden-Harris administration has embraced the war on gas as part of its "whole of government" obsession with climate change. But from a homeowner standpoint, natural gas is three times cheaper than electricity on a per-unit energy basis, according to the very same DOE that is part of the multi-agency assault on it. Natural gas appliances can save homeowners over $1,000 annually on utility bills as compared to electric versions.
Had it not been for 2023’s surprisingly strong backlash against potential gas stove regulations,we would likely be well on our way towards serious federal limits on them. The Biden-Harris administration yielded to public opinion, but only by switching tactics. As a result, the risk of losing natural gas stoves has been replaced by the risk of losing gas for all purposes.
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Ben Lieberman is a senior fellow who specializes in environmental policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
