Gas Stove Prohibition Movement That Began In Progressive Cities Goes To Washington

A White House appointee’s recent statement that a nationwide ban on the installation of gas stoves is under consideration has drawn strong reactions, including from many who don’t typically comment on politics. Celebrity Chef Andrew Gruel, for example, tweeted out a video of himself taped to a gas stove in protest of “the Biden administration’s suggested proposal to ban all natural gas stoves.”

In an interview with Bloomberg published on January 9, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission member Richard Trumka Jr., who was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021, called gas stove use a “hidden hazard.” “Any option is on the table,” Trumka said when discussing the prospect of federal regulation to outlaw new gas stoves nationwide, adding that “products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”

A debate over the prospect of a national gas stove ban follows the enactment of gas stove prohibitions in major U.S. cities. Gas stove bans have thus far been enacted by local officials in San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York City.

Governors and state lawmakers have responded to this local gas stove prohibition movement by enacting state legislation that preempts the ability of local governments to impose such stove bans. Laws that preempt locally-imposed gas stove bans have been enacted in 21 states so far. North Carolina almost made it 22, but legislation passed by both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly that would’ve prevented local governments from imposing gas stove bans, House Bill 220, was vetoed by Governor Roy Cooper (D) in late 2021.

“This legislation undermines North Carolina’s transition to a clean energy economy that is already bringing in thousands of good paying jobs,” Governor Cooper said in a statement explaining his veto. Representative Dean Arp (R), a cosponsor of HB 220, responded in a written statement that the “heavy hand of government has no place in the personal decisions North Carolinians make for their households.”

In explaining his veto of legislation that would ensure local officials can’t impose ordinances denying North Carolinians access to gas stoves, Governor Cooper cited the “clean energy economy.” Some, such as National Review’s Charles Cooke, have noticed the evolving auspices under which gas stove bans have been pitched. “First, the impetus was climate change, then it was health, and, if these fail, it will become something else — the perils of living in the same house as plastic knobs, perhaps,” writes Cooke.

Environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council praised Governor Cooper’s veto. The trade association representing North Carolina home builders, however, supported statewide preemption legislation because of the way in which local gas stove bans would further inflate housing costs.

“A lot of times what happens is, that option is more expensive plus it also changes the way you have to do a lot of things in the house,” Steven Webb, director of legislative affairs for the North Carolina Home Builders Association, said of the upward pressure that local gas bans would apply to housing costs. Meanwhile Irene Nielson, Natural Resources Defense Council’s city strategist, criticized HB 220 as “a law to protect industry from any technological change having an effect on them.” Nielson’s critique, however, does not accurately describe what HB 220 does. HB 220 and similar preemption bills in other states prevent the imposition of local laws that ban gas stoves, but they don’t block competition in anyway.

Anyone who wants to switch from a gas to an electric stove would be free to do so even if HB 220 were enacted. As his bill was being debated in the legislature, Representative Arp noted that it would protect the “option for consumers to choose the best energy source for them in their homes.” North Carolinians would still be free to switch from a gas to an electric stove under Arp’s bill, but they couldn’t ever be forced to do so by local politicians.

Were this preemption bill to be revived during the 2023 legislative session in North Carolina, it would face much better prospects for enactment than was the case in 2021. When Governor Cooper vetoed the gas stove prohibition preemption bill 13 months ago, Republicans were in charge of the General Assembly but they didn’t have veto-proof majorities. Now, thanks to the results of the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans have a veto-proof majority in the North Carolina Senate and are only one vote short of a veto-proof majority in the House. Republican leadership has expressed confidence that they’ll be able to garner bipartisan, veto-proof majorities on certain bill, particularly those dealing with tax and regulatory issues.

The Republican super-majority in the North Carolina Senate and the near majority in the House means that HB 220, should it be reintroduced, faces a much better possibility of enactment than was the case when Cooper vetoed the bill just over a year ago. Lawmakers in a number other states will likely be interested in introducing legislation in 2023 that protects their constituents from locally-imposed gas stove bans, particularly as the White House has pushed the topic in the headlines.

The 2022 midterm election results delivered a net gain of three new trifecta states for Democrats (“trifecta states” being those where one party controls both chambers of the legislature and the governorship). In 2023, Democrats have 17 trifecta states and Republicans have 21. When it comes to the states where lawmakers are most likely to take action to preempt local gas stove bans, any of the 21 Republican trifecta states and some with divided government that have yet to pass such legislation are candidates for doing so in 2023 and 2024. Alexander Hoehn-Saric, chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission walked back Trumka’s remarks on January 11, stating he is “not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSCPSC
has no proceeding to do so.” It will be telling whether President Biden or any White House officials also feel obligated to dispel the notion that the President is open to a national gas stove ban.