In the latest skirmish in the war on natural gas being waged by climate action activists, a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives today approved an amendment that would prevent the US Energy Department to use its regulatory powers to enact a de facto ban on stoves that use natural gas.
29 Democrats joined all 222 Republicans to approve the amendment to HR 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act.
Orange County’s congressional delegation split along generally ideological lines: Representatives Young Kim and Michelle Steel, both conservative Republicans, were joined by Democrat Rep. Lou Correa – a moderate on business and economic issues – in safeguarding the freedom of consumers to choose gas stoves.
Representatives Katie Porter and Mike Levin voted against the amendment. Both Levin and Porter are committed to “climate action” ideology.
Environmental activists used to be supportive of natural gas because it is clean-burning, but since it is also a fossil fuel, the increasingly radicalized “climate action” movement has turned on it in favor of renewables such as wind and solar energy.
In January, Consumer Product Safety Commission member Richard Trumka threatened to ban gas appliances, claiming they pose a health threat. His comments ignited a firestorm, and Trumka backed off.
However, the Energy Department has proposed efficiency standards that would effectively bar the sale of most currently available gas stoves: 20 of the 21 top gas stoves tested by the Energy Department tested wouldn’t comply with its proposed standards.
While the Energy Department claims their goal is reducing energy use and thereby shave gas bills, the proposed regulations would only reduce energy consumption by 3.4% and provide an average savings of just $21.89 over a gas stove’s lifetime. cook-top’s lifetime.
Appliance manufacturers would have to spend hundreds of millions re-designing their stove-tops to comply – costs that would be passed on the consumers in the form of higher prices, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.
