US product regulator disavows gas stove ban

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is walking back the idea that it might ban the sale of new natural gas cooking stoves to reduce consumers' exposure to indoor air pollution.

The prospect that a ban was a possibility had triggered backlash from Democratic and Republican lawmakers, who saw an example of government regulation going too far. But the CPSC's chair today disavowed the idea of banning gas stoves amid growing criticism.

"To be clear, I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so," CPSC chairman Alexander Hoehn-Saric said.

The agency last year began scrutinizing hazards of gas stoves, in response to new research tying their use to lower indoor air quality. The CPSC's five voting members last October ordered agency staff to start work on a request for information on any hazards of gas stoves and potential solutions.

That work — which remains in the early stages — received little attention until the release of interviews this week with CPSC commissioner Rich Trumka Jr, who said the agency would consider "all approaches to regulation," including a possibility of a ban on new stoves. The CPSC already regulates thousands of consumer products, and has the option to ban products if it finds it cannot develop standards that would adequately protect the public.

The possibility of a stove ban prompted bipartisan fury on Capitol Hill. US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chairman Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) said a gas stove ban was a "recipe for disaster." Republicans see the idea as a way to force a switch to electric stoves that remain unpopular with some consumers.

"It is about telling the American people the federal government knows best," US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) said.

The CPSC said it intends to move forward with its request for information on gas stoves this spring as part of its research on ways to reduce health risks, and that it is also working on voluntary safety standards for the cooking devices. Industry officials downplayed the chances that CPSC would pursue an outright ban on gas stoves.

"That's not going to happen," American Petroleum Institute chief executive Mike Sommers told reporters today. "There would be a significant grassroots backlash against that kind of movement. People love their gas stoves."

Even without a national ban on new gas stoves, some states and local governments are pursuing similar restrictions to meet their climate goals. New York governor Kathy Hochul (D) this week offered support for a statewide ban on gas hookups in new construction that would start in 2025 in small buildings and by 2028 for large buildings. California is seeking to ban the sale of new gas-fired furnaces and water heaters by 2030.

By Chris Knight