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Humans have been using fire to cook with for thousands of years, but that could soon end for millions of Americans if the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has its way and bans gas stoves.
Last October, CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. let the cat out of the bag when he said gas stoves are “a hidden hazard.” He added, “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”
According to the CPSC, gas stoves are dangerous and worthy of being banned because they apparently cause asthma in children. And if the left is good at anything, it is very good at using children as pawns to further its misguided agenda.
In reality, gas stoves do not present an increased risk of asthma for children. The “study” cited by the CPSC that claims this is the case is not an actual study. In fact, it is a meta-analysis of cherry-picked studies based on weak instances of correlation, not causation.
Indeed, the authors of the so-called study that has been promoted to support the proposed ban ignored several other studies that would have called into question their predetermined conclusion.
In 2003, the National Institutes of Health released an actual study that found, “no apparent impact of gas stove use on pulmonary function or respiratory symptoms.”
Moreover, as Junk Science founder Steve Milloy has documented, “The claim that gas stoves are responsible for 12% of childhood asthma – an epidemiologic concept called “attributable risk” – is entirely bogus because epidemiological studies can only be used to associate exposures with disease. They cannot be used to determine risk of disease because (1) the underlying data is not representative of the population; and (2) epidemiologic studies cannot be used by themselves to determine cause-and-effect relationships.”
Unfortunately, this has not stopped many on the left, who almost always favor bans, from citing even more ridiculous claims that the very existence of gas stoves is an existential crisis.
For instance, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) recently declared that gas stoves cause brain damage, sans any evidence, of course. Sen. Corey Booker (D-NJ) has gone so far as to call gas stoves racist, because “Black, Latino, and low-income households are more likely to experience disproportionate air pollution” from gas stoves due to “living in smaller homes with poor ventilation.”
Per usual, the ban-happy left is also using their go-to boogeyman—climate change—in their quest to eradicate America of those dastardly and dangerous gas stoves.
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As CBS News recently reported, “Gas stoves are contributing more to global warming than previously thought because they constantly leak small amounts of methane even while they’re off, a new study has found.”
While it is true that gas stoves certainly do not have a zero-carbon footprint, it is also true that their counterparts, electric stoves, do not as well. After all, electric stoves rely upon fossil fuels, namely coal-fired-power-plants in order to function.
Aside from the absurd arguments leftists are using to portray gas stoves as the devil reincarnate, for the most part, they are generally safer than electric stoves and they absolutely perform better for their intended purpose of cooking food.
Gas stoves have burners that ignite instantly and heat up much faster than electric stoves. They are more convenient to use and produce superior results because you can control the heat more easily than electric stoves. Gas stove burners are also safer because as soon as they are shut off, they cool quickly and present minimal burn risk. Electric stoves, on the other hand, take very long to cool down and therefore are more likely to cause burns, especially for children.
Not only that, gas stoves are able to perform during power outages and are more durable and longer-lasting. Electric stoves cannot work during power outages and typically do not last as long as gas stoves.
In other words, there are many reasons that 40 million American households choose to cook on gas stovetops.
Nonetheless, that has not prevented the Biden administration from targeting gas stoves for banishment. Not that long ago, the federal government basically outlawed incandescent light bulbs. Today, they have set their sights on gas stoves. I wonder what could be next, perhaps the gasoline-powered car?
Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.
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