After igniting a controversy last year about banning gas stoves for health reasons, the Biden administration has lowered the heat considerably.
In releasing new energy efficiency standards for ovens and stoves on Monday, the Energy Department said 97% of America’s gas stoves already meet the standard. This is after appliance makers and environmental advocacy groups weighed in on earlier proposed standards that some claimed would rip people’s stoves out of their homes.
The requirements now mainly target electric stoves, ensuring that new models use at least 30% less energy than today’s lowest-performing models, without sacrificing the features and functions consumers expect, the Energy Department said.
“President Biden is committed to using all the tools at the Administration’s disposal to lower costs for American families and deliver healthier communities—including energy efficiency measures like the one announced today,” Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm said Monday.
Last January, former Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. suggested the agency could ban gas stoves as safety hazards, after a peer-reviewed study by U.S. and Australian researchers attributed 12.7% of childhood asthma cases in the U.S. to the use of gas stoves.
Natural gas stoves emit nitrogen dioxide, which can irritate the respiratory tract and has been linked to asthma, as well as carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter.
“Products that can’t be made safe can be banned,” Trumka said at the time.
But the comments fired up some angry protests, despite the Biden administration’s reassurance that the standards wouldn’t be applied to existing stoves. Industry groups objected, and Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) said the U.S. government “has no business telling American families how to cook their dinner.”
Trumka later clarified that the standards applied to new appliances, not ones already in use, saying: “We are not looking to go into anyone’s homes and take away items that are already there.”
The White House confirmed at the time that President Joe Biden “does not support banning gas stoves.”
On Monday, the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers said the new standards would save energy while preserving cooking methods and features home cooks want. The Appliance Standards Awareness Project said the revised standards were developed after input by it and other “stakeholders.”
The requirements would apply to new models starting Jan. 31, 2028. If adopted as proposed, these and other energy efficiency recommendations would lower consumers’ utility bills by nearly $1 trillion and cut at least 2.5 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over 30 years, Granholm said.
Write to Janet H. Cho at [email protected]
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