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The House of Representatives last week passed two ATR-endorsed bills to push back on the Biden administration’s attempts to deprive Americans of their right to own gas stoves.
Earlier this year Richard Trumka, a Biden appointee to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), told Bloomberg News that gas stoves are “a hidden hazard,” citing potential air pollutants and effects on climate change. Options for the commission’s response ranged from setting new emissions standards to outright bans on the manufacture or import of gas stoves.
“Any option is on the table,” argued Trumka, whose father was president of the AFL-CIO. “Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”
The comments by Trumka followed a letter from 20 congressional Democrats urging the CPSC to take action restricting the ownership of gas stoves.
In response, the House on Tuesday passed the first of two bills related to the appliances. H.R. 1615, the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act, aims to prohibit the CPSC from using any taxpayer funds on regulations that ban gas stoves or hike their prices. The bill passed the House on a vote of 248-180, with zero Republicans voting against the bill but 180 Democrats voting ‘no.’
In February, the Biden Department of Energy (DOE) doubled down by introducing a proposed rulemaking which would create stricter efficiency standards for gas stoves, a move that some industry players say could block 95 percent of appliances currently on the market. DOE itself says that over half of gas stove models on the market today would not comply with the new standards, which they admit would raise the upfront cost of the products by $32.5 million per year.
On Wednesday, the House responded by passing H.R. 1640, the Save Our Gas Stoves Act, which aims to prevent DOE from finalizing their February 2023 proposed rule and prohibit the department from issuing any standard that would ban stoves based on the type of fuel used. The bill passed on vote of 249-181, with zero Republican ‘no’ votes but 181 Democrats voting against it.
ATR President Grover Norquist appeared on The National Desk to discuss the Biden administration’s attempts to seize gas appliances from consumers.
“Why is the federal government telling the American people what kind of stovetop they can have?” asked Norquist. “There is no national, federal interest in this issue. It’s not an expense issue. It’s not a pollution issue. It’s just a control issue.”
Norquist continued by highlighting the accomplishments of House Republicans in passing the pair of bills:
“Every single Republican voted to stop these attacks on you being able to legally have a gas stove. Most Democrats voted to take away your ability to have a gas stove, but not all. There were a number of Democrats who voted with the Republicans, so it was a good-sized majority… We could pass this in the Senate.“
Americans for Tax Reform supported both H.R. 1615 and H.R. 1640 prior to their passage in the House. ATR strongly encourages the bills to be brought to the Senate floor, where they should receive support from all Senators.
Watch Grover Norquist’s full interview with The National Desk here: