The White House said Wednesday that the president Joe Biden does not support ban natural gas stoves after a federal consumer safety official suggested that such a proposal was on the table by the Administration.
“The president does not support a ban on gas stoves,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, at the briefing on Wednesday. “And the independent Consumer Product Safety Commission is not banning gas stoves. I just want to be very clear on that.”
The White House response followed a recent Bloomberg interview with the Biden-appointed Commissioner of Consumer Product Safety, Richard Trumka Jr. who called electrical appliances a “hidden danger” and said that “any option is on the table” in relation to its regulation.
“Products that cannot be made safe can be banned,” Trumka added. In addition to a ban, other options include “setting standards on emissions from household appliances,” Trumka said.
Every kitchen creates some form of air pollution. But gas stoves burn natural gas, a mixture of methane and other chemicals. Pollutants from gas stoves have been linked to asthma and worsening of respiratory problems.
Approximately 35% of homes in the United States have gas stoves. which reportedly release carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and other substances that the World Health Organization and EPA consider unsafe because they can cause cardiovascular problems, cancer, and other health conditions.
Trumka had been trying to quell the storm since Monday. “To be clear, CPSC is not coming for anyone’s gas stoves,” he wrote on Twitter, adding that any regulation would apply to new products.
However, Republican lawmakers were quick to seize on comments from Trumka, a Biden candidate, arguing that Biden and government bureaucrats were coming for American stoves.
The CPSC, the agency responsible for managing the safety of US consumer products, won’t ban gas stoves or even propose regulations on them any time soon.
Source: La Opinion
