WASHINGTON (AP) — Venturing back into the nation's culture wars, the Republican-controlled House has approved legislation that GOP lawmakers say would protect gas stoves from overzealous government regulators.
A bill passed Tuesday would prohibit use of federal money to regulate gas stoves as a hazardous product, while a separate measure endorsed on Wednesday would block an Energy Department rule setting stricter energy efficiency standards for stovetops and ovens.
The White House said the administration “has been clear that it does not support any attempt to ban the use of gas stoves,″ but GOP lawmakers say rules on gas stoves represent classic government overreach.
“It’s not a petty concern to the hard-working Americans who will be impacted,″ said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. “The last thing they need is to have the Biden administration’s Green New Deal regulatory assault reach their kitchen appliances.”
Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey called the bills a political stunt. “House Republicans are once again putting polluters over people,'' he said.
The bill targeting regulation of gas stoves as hazardous was approved, 248-180, while the measure blocking the Energy Department rule was approved 249-181. Twenty-nine Democrats joined Republicans in supporting both bills.
President Joe Biden opposes both GOP bills as blocking “common-sense efforts to help Americans cut their energy bills,'' the White House said in a statement. Neither bill is expected to advance in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
The House bills were set for approval last week, but action was postponed after House conservatives staged a mini-revolt in retaliation for Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership on a measure to raise the debt ceiling. Led by outspoken members of the House Freedom Caucus, 11 Republicans broke with their party on an otherwise routine procedural vote that threw the House schedule into disarray for a full week.
McCarthy appeared to resolve the dispute late Monday after promising more meetings with GOP holdouts and seeking to reduce future federal spending.
Dozens of Democratic-controlled cities, including San Francisco and Berkeley, California, have moved to ban new buildings from using gas stoves as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve indoor air quality. New York state approved a law last month banning natural gas stoves and furnaces in most new buildings.
Fears of a national ban grew after a member of the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in January that “any option is on the table” when it comes to regulating gas stoves, which have been linked to poor indoor air quality and health harms such as asthma. The remark prompted online images of the government dragging four-burner cooktops from homes, as social media users and GOP lawmakers pledged to defend the popular appliances.