Official Appointed by Biden Wanted to Ban Gas Stoves: Memo

Flames burn on a gas stove in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 12, 2023. Scott Olson/Getty Images

A federal official appointed by President Joe Biden wanted to ban gas stoves, according to a leaked memorandum.

“There is sufficient information available for CPSC to issue [a notice of proposed rulemaking] in [fiscal year] 2023 proposing to ban gas stoves in homes,” Richard Trumka Jr., a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission commissioner, wrote in the Oct. 25, 2022, memo.

The memo was obtained by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity and reviewed by The Epoch Times.

Trumka triggered a media firestorm in January after saying that all options regarding gas stoves were on the table.

“My guiding duty is protecting consumer health and safety. Gas stoves can emit dangerous level of toxic chemicals—even when not in use—and CPSC will consider all approaches to regulation,” Trumka said at the time.

U.S. lawmakers have criticized the floating of a ban, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). Others have urged the CPSC to impose new regulations on gas stoves.

Other officials quickly walked back Trumka’s comments.

“I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so,” CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric stated. The White House also said President Joe Biden wouldn’t back a gas stove ban and that the CPSC “is not banning gas stoves.”

Fact-checking articles from the Associated Press, The New York Times, and other agencies claimed that the administration wasn’t going to or trying to ban stoves, claims that were contradicted by the leaked memo.

Trumka wrote in the document, addressed to fellow commissioner Peter Feldman, that the need for gas stove regulation “has reached a boiling point” as “emerging evidence” showed that “gas stoves in homes emit toxic gases that cause illnesses and that lower-cost, safer alternatives are available.” He cited a paper from the New York University School of Law, which pointed to papers that have found high nitrogen dioxide levels in homes with gas stoves and advocated for CPSC to “address the risks of indoor air pollution from gas stoves.”

He also noted that New York and Los Angeles have already banned gas stoves in newly constructed buildings.

Federal law empowers CPSC to regulate consumer products that emit toxic chemicals. To impose a ban, the commission must find the hazard is serious enough to require a ban.

“Procedurally, a ban would require several findings in the regulatory analysis—in summary: (1) there is no relevant voluntary standard, the voluntary standard is insufficient, or substantial compliance with the voluntary standard is unlikely: (2) the expected benefits of the rule bear a reasonable relationship to its costs, considering the distribution of benefits and costs; and (3) the regulation is the least burdensome way to adequately reduce the risk of injury,” Trumka wrote.

Evidence already supports the claim that emissions from the stoves are toxic while there is no relevant voluntary standard, he added. Additionally, “the costs of installing new electric stoves are typically lower than the costs of installing new gas stoves, even without the subsidies,” so “the costs of the rule to consumers would be negligible.”

The CPSC said in a statement that no regulatory action on gas stoves is planned and that any such action would require a vote by the full commission.

Trumka and the White House didn’t respond to requests by The Epoch Times for comment.

The leaked memo “proves [the] Biden administration intended to ban gas stoves,” the Committee to Unleash Prosperity stated.

Biden Nominee

The CPSC is an independent federal agency that imposes regulations on consumer products, including by developing mandatory standards for products and researching potential hazards.

Biden nominated Trumka to the commission in July 2021. At the time, Trumka was a lawyer for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform.

The Senate confirmed the nomination by voice vote.

Trumka’s term is seven years.

Feldman is a Trump appointee whose term runs until fall 2026. Mary Boyle, the third commissioner, is a Biden appointee. Hoehn-Saric is also a Biden appointee.

Proposal Advanced

Trumka’s proposed notice of rulemaking wasn’t issued, but a different notice has been.

The CPSC issued a notice on March 7 for information “on chronic hazards associated with gas ranges and proposed solutions to those hazards.”

“We are looking for research on the health hazards associated with gas exposure, data on chemical emissions, test methods, and effective solutions with cost-benefit analyses,” Trumka said.

The three Biden appointees voted to issue the notice, and Feldman voted against it.

Trumka, during a 2022 meeting, wanted to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking for gas stoves but acknowledged the proposal lacked support from other commissioners. He introduced the notice as a substitute.