The U.S. House voted in favor of a bill that stops the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) from using federal funds to regulate gas stoves and enforce a product safety standard that prohibits the use or sale of these stoves.
H.R. 1615 passed by a 248-180 margin, with 29 Democrats joining 219 Republicans to support the bill. It's unclear if the bill will be considered by the Democrat-led Senate.
Proposed standards for gas stovetops have cooked up a storm on Capitol Hill in recent months after the Department of Energy released its plans earlier this year.
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee held a hearing on the proposal. Witnesses invited by Republican members of the committee blasted the proposal, citing estimates that the rule would take over half of all gas stoves for sale off the market.
"Eliminating, at minimum, half of the gas stoves available to consumers prevents customers who want a gas stove from obtaining one," said Matthew Agen, chief regulatory counsel at the American Gas Association. "Not only is the proposed rule ill-conceived, analytically unsupportable, and anti-consumer, the proposed rule suffers from a series of procedural and legal errors that render it unlawful."
Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, chair of the House Oversight Committee, claimed the new rules are an "assault" on Americans' gas stoves, calling the standards a "de facto ban."
"What is more American than gas stoves?" Fallon said.
Rep. Cori Bush, ranking member of the committee, pushed back on Fallon's claims.
"This proposed rule is not a ban on gas stoves," she said. "We are regulating indoor air pollution. The climate crisis is happening all around us and Republican inaction is costing our lives."
The debate comes as scientists express concern over gas stovetops' emissions.
Earlier this year, a commissioner for the CPSC said the federal agency should consider banning gas stovetops in homes. He later walked back those comments, however.
The bill passed on Tuesday was sponsored by Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-North Dakota.
"The Biden administration is intent on weaponizing every aspect of the federal government to achieve its ideological goals," said Armstrong. "Consumer protection should be about safety, not used as a veiled push to eliminate fossil fuels and the millions of jobs they support. Americans should decide if gas stoves are right for their families, not the federal government.
Eric Lebel, a senior scientist for PSE Health Energy, previously told Scripps News there are two main concerns that gas stoves pose. One is that stoves can emit methane gas, which is a potent greenhouse gas.
He said the other concern is that stoves can release harmful gases such as nitrogen oxides.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, large doses of nitrogen oxides can cause dizziness. Long-term exposure can lead to infertility, the CDC said.
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