Is the government coming for your gas stove? Not anytime soon, but that perceived threat set off a political firestorm earlier this year and newly released emails show the government scrambling to contain the outrage.
The independent, and usually sleepy, Consumer Product Safety Commission went into overdrive in January after news reports featured an interview with Commissioner Rich Trumka Jr., who floated a future ban on the stoves, which can cause indoor air pollution and contribute to climate change.
USA TODAY joined other news outlets in filing Freedom of Information Act requests tracking the internal fallout and this month received 584-pages of heavily redacted emails that show nearly a dozen staff members caught off guard by the mounting blowback.
“This could become a thing,” a CPSC legislative affairs aide quipped in a Jan. 10 email.
How did the gas stove controversy start?
It’s not news that gas stoves can cause health hazards inside our homes. Researchers have pointed it out for decades. But a study released in December linked using a gas stove to an increased risk of childhood asthma, touching off a new round of concern.
On Dec. 14, Trumka appeared on a webinar sponsored by the United States Public Interest Research Group and talked about gas stoves, saying the CPSC should consider regulating emissions or banning them entirely, “I think we ought to keep that possibility of a ban in mind… because it’s a powerful tool in our toolbox. It’s a real possibility.”
That drew minimal news coverage at first in a 543-word story from Chicago Tribune with the headline: “Gas stoves could be banned in 2023, top federal official says.”
On Dec. 21, Democrats Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia urged the CPSC to take some action, citing the nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide emitted by gas stoves.
The possibility of a ban didn’t go viral until a climate-focused public relations shop underscored its significance and a Bloomberg reporter took note. He re-interviewed Trumka, who again floated the idea of a ban in a story that ran on Jan. 9.
Firebrand Republicans jumped on the issue, which seemed to strike a nerve in America. The agency’s hotline was overwhelmed and electronic letters flowed in. Commenters compared the stove regulation to pandemic lockdowns and warned Trumka and the CPSC against becoming “the next Dr. Fauci.”
Reaction and walkbacks
Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson tweeted the following day: “I’ll NEVER give up my gas stove. If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands. COME AND TAKE IT!!”
His missive quickly made the rounds at the top ranks of the CPSC, along with newly minted memes from Sen. Ted Cruz’s staff. One replaced the iconic cannon in the Texas Revolution battle flag with a gas stove.
CPSC Director of Communications Pamela Rucker Springs forwarded a Wall Street Journal editorial headlined “Biden Is Coming for Your Gas Stove” to commission Chairman Alexander Hoehn-Saric and others, saying in her email: “Not surprising coming from News Corp which is pushing this story hard across their assets. Multiple queries from Fox assets.”
In another email, Springs warned her staff: “This is going to be ALL HANDS ON DECK for the foreseeable future.”
Trumka and Hoehn-Saric worked with the communications staff to tamp down the growing backlash, their email conversations at times starting early mornings and continuing late into the night.
By then, Trumka had walked back his own words in a tweet and Hoehn-Saric was preparing to issue a widely circulated statement: “I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so.” A tweet from Beyer emphasizing that he had not called for a ban, either, but rather increased regulations, including appropriate range hoods, drew an approving email response from Springs: “Yay!”
But CPSC staff shared the Republican-led “Stop Trying to Obsessively Vilify Energy Act” or STOVE Act, with colleagues on Jan. 11, just two days after Bloomberg’s story, noting, “The House Rs move fast.”
Springs responded: “Christ.”
By the end of the week, CPSC internal documents log dozens of news inquiries and millions of mentions of the agency in media reports.
Are gas stoves banned in New York and Berkeley?
No and no.
Technically, New York passed legislation this year that bans gas stoves and furnaces from most new buildings starting in 2029. It exempts hospitals and restaurants, and doesn’t affect existing buildings.
Berkeley, California became the first U.S. city to adopt a ban in 2019 on natural gas in new homes and buildings, igniting a protest from the restaurant lobby. In April, a federal appeals court struck down the ban.
What happens next for gas stoves?
The CPSC is sifting through the more than 9,000 comments it has received from the public about the impact of gas stoves and possible regulation.
The comment period closed May 8 and responses are filled with a mix of bombastic and often vulgar notes: “(Expletive) you. Leave my stove and guns alone you communist (expletive),” one anonymous commenter wrote.
In all, 55 comments mentioned “freedom” and more than 20 cited “liberty.”
Sage Cancholas-Welch, principal at Sunstone Strategies – the communications firm that helped set off the controversy by circulating the Trumka webinar in December – said the issue has unfortunately become politicized.
“When the smoke clears, this will be a pivotal moment to create public awareness on this issue,” Cancholas-Welch said, pointing out that some of the loudest criticism came from Republican districts that largely don’t rely on natural gas to fuel stoves.
She predicted CPSC may suggest stronger labeling on stoves that warn of the chemical dangers.
Last week, congress held a hearing filled with mockery and wry humor about the controversy.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla. and other Democrats offered biting commentary about what he called the “Grand Appliance Party” defending the rights of stove owners.
“I look forward to the legislation of our time, the appliance bill of rights that might come,” Moskowitz said at the hearing. “Congress can still do big things, we have not lost our way and when the American people need leadership… we are going to deliver for them and their gas stoves.”
Republican Pat Fallon of Texas called any new emissions regulation a “de facto ban” that takes away freedom from Americans.
“This is about taking away choice and every time you take away choice you take away liberty,” Fallon said.
Nick Penzenstadler is a reporter on the USA TODAY investigations team. Contact him at npenz@usatoday.com or @npenzenstadler, or on Signal at (720) 507-5273.
More coverage from USA TODAY
