Jim Hartman: Biden’s war on gas stoves – and lots more

In January, Richard Trumka Jr., a U.S. Consumer Product Safety commissioner appointed by President Biden, set off a firestorm by saying the agency was weighing a ban on natural gas stoves due to health hazards.

Trumka told Bloomberg News the popular gas stove appliance was a “hidden hazard” and suggested the agency could ban them.

“Any option is on the table to regulate them. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”

The purported concern is that gas stoves cause indoor pollution and asthma, though there is little evidence to support such claims. The Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board refute them.

A ban on gas cooking appliances would remove an affordable and preferred technology used in 60 percent of Nevada homes and 76 percent of restaurants nationally.

The idea of banning gas stoves led to furious blowback from both Congressional Republicans and Democrats – and a strong consumer backlash.

Biden insisted he didn’t want to ban gas stoves, but his actions are to the contrary.

Climate crusaders do want to ban them and “progressive” cities are doing it.

Berkeley, California (2019), San Francisco (2020) and New York City (2021) have banned gas stoves and other gas appliances in new buildings.

The Biden administration is supporting the anti-gas appliance cause. It filed an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals supporting Berkeley’s gas ban. On April 17, the court ruled unanimously Berkeley’s ban was illegal.

The gas stove controversy is only one part of a campaign against consumer appliances to secure the fossil-fuel-free future that Biden imagines for us sometime in the 2030s.

Like stoves, gas furnaces are under attack. A proposed Energy Department furnace regulation disproportionately burdens gas models relative to electric ones.

While natural gas is less than one-third as expensive as electricity on a per unit energy basis, the only gas furnaces likely to survive under the final rule will be more expensive and harder to install.

For washing machines, the Energy Department is expected to again ratchet down the allowable levels of energy and water. The current standards have led to complaints from consumers that washers don’t sufficiently clean clothes. Appliance technicians report more costly repairs because of these regulations.

To keep pace with its washing machine crusade, the Energy Department on May 5 proposed more stringent energy and water-efficiency requirements for dishwashers – even though current regulations are already causing problems for consumers.

It now takes at least two hours to do a load of dishes, twice as long as it did in pre-standards models. The department acknowledges its regulations lead to consumer dissatisfaction, specifically a negative impact on cleaning performance.

The newly proposed rule may make dishwashers even worse.

A new Energy Department efficiency standard for central air conditioners took effect on Jan. 1. It has raised the cost of a new system by up to $1,000, according to installers. That’s an expensive regulatory boost, particularly for air conditioning, a proven lifesaver.

The EPA proposed its own ban on the most affordable remaining air-conditioner models on grounds they are insufficiently climate friendly. In 2025, expect an additional price jump when their new rule takes effect.

Beginning in July, it will no longer be legal to manufacture, import or sell incandescent light bulbs. Last summer, the Biden administration reversed a Trump-era reprieve for incandescent bulbs, despite their clear preference from consumers.

Newer LED bulbs will be required by an onerous Energy Department efficiency regulation. While improving, LEDs cost more than incandescents, don’t work well with most dimmers, and cast a light that many consumers consider unpleasant.

Biden’s Green New Deal warriors are engaged in a crusade to impose their values on the lifestyles of everyone else and deny individuals choices.

With certitude that we must be coerced into altruism, Biden would force Americans to buy electric cars, stoves – and lots more.

E-mail Jim Hartman at lawdocman1@aol.com.