Those who don’t think big government is coming after gas stoves should look at Tuesday and Wednesday’s vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Because of overt federal intent to infringe on the use of gas stoves in the U.S., Republicans introduced and passed legislation both days to prevent the Energy Department and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission from using the rule-making process to curtail such an action.
Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman voted yes on both measures, calling the Biden administration's gas stove proposals insane.
“It is the height of insanity that Congress must pass legislation to keep unelected agency bureaucrats from cutting off the gas to our stoves — which would surely be followed by cutting off gas to our homes completely,” Hageman said of the Save Our Gas Stoves Act, which passed by a 249-181 vote.
Democrats protested both bills as being unnecessary. They said the Energy Department’s proposed rules would only apply to new gas stoves.
“There’s simply no reason for this proposed rule to be controversial,” New Jersey Democrat Frank Pallone said. “No one is saying you can’t keep your gas stove. No one is saying you don’t have a choice. No one is saying you have to move to electric stoves. This is all misinformation.”
However, the facts say otherwise and 29 Democrats jumped ship and voted with Republicans on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Wednesday’s bill, the Save Our Gas Stove Act, would stop the Department of Energy from issuing efficiency standards that would make half of current gas stoves run afoul of compliance.
Tuesday’s bill, the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act, which was passed by a 248-180 margin, would thwart the Consumer Product Safety Commission from banning the sale of new gas stoves.
The bills aren't expected to go anywhere in the Democratically-controlled Senate, although Senate Energy Chairman Joe Manchin introduced the Senate version of the Save Our Gas Stoves Act on Wednesday.
“The federal government has no business telling Americans how to cook their dinner,” Manchin said. “My view is that it’s part of a broader, administration-wide regulatory effort to eliminate fossil fuels.”
