Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) introduced the Stop Trying to Obsessively Vilify Energy (STOVE) Act on Wednesday. The White House had to address the issue at Thursday's press briefing ("The President does not support banning gas stoves"). Smoke, but no fire: The takeaway could be that federal policymakers — like small children — should stay away from gas stoves. But they weren't even really going there. The CPSC is planning to solicit comments on the health effects of gas stoves, but that's it. It's a local and state-level issue. Nearly 100 jurisdictions, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and New York City, have banned gas stoves in new construction. New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday endorsed a state proposal to ban gas stoves in new construction, as POLITICO's Marie J. French reports. “No one is going to come and take your gas stove,” New York Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said. Only Denver, Tacoma, Wash., and Portola Valley, Calif., require electric stoves in existing buildings when appliances are being replaced, according to the nonprofit Building Decarbonization Coalition. This is mostly a blue-state debate: Nationwide, about 38 percent of households use natural gas for cooking, as David Iaconangelo reports for POLITICO's E&E News. The only states where gas stoves dominate are California, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey and New York. Households in Southern states are less likely than average to have gas stoves. And electric stoves are far more common in lower-income households. Environmentalists are counting the episode as a win. "The amount of awareness now on how harmful they are has just skyrocketed," said Matt Vespa, a senior attorney with Earthjustice. And power-sector wonks might actually be inspired to focus more on stoves, which have gotten less attention in the decarbonization debate than heat pumps and hot water heaters. Electric stoves are eligible for up to $840 in Inflation Reduction Act rebates, as David reports. The asthma findings could add fuel to the argument for switching. "If you can actually convince parents that their kids are put at risk by an appliance that they could replace for less than a thousand dollars, and significantly less than that if you can get some subsidies going for it, as a parent, that's a sales pitch I can understand," said Michael Wara, director of Stanford University's climate and energy policy program. (Trumka himself invoked his children in December.) And that might be the reason for the firestorm. "If I were the gas people ... I would defend the stove more than the hot water heater, because it's the consumer connection to my product," Wara said.
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