SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An effort by blue states to warn consumers that gas stoves emit toxic fumes is the latest offensive in America’s culture war over stovetops.
State lawmakers in California, New York and Illinois have introduced bills to tell shoppers that gas stoves – which are in about 40 percent of American homes – put them, their children and even (in California) their pets at risk for asthma , leukemia and other diseases. diseases.
Appliance makers behind major household brands like Samsung and LG are pushing back, accusing advocates of demonizing the fossil fuel for political gain and managing to weaken some warnings. It’s a new skirmish in the battle to regulate gas stoves, an effort that Republicans have cast as a symbol of Democratic overreach in tackling climate change.
But backers insist they are not trying to eradicate the stoves. While the broader battle over stoves focuses on natural gas’s contribution to climate change, the battle over labeling is focused on educating consumers about the fuel’s indoor health effects.
“We are not banning gas stoves,” said Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin, a California Democrat who authored the state’s warning label proposal. “We’re really just requiring them to be labeled so that people are warned how best to use them with proper ventilation.”
A defeat for Democrats on the warning labels would be a further setback after courts overturned stove bans that spread across liberal cities after Berkeley passed the first ban in 2019. It could also provide more fodder for Republicans in a crucial election year to shut out Democrats. of contact with Americans on more pressing issues.
Even some Democrats have reservations. Senator Sean Ryan, a Democrat from the Buffalo area, called New York’s labeling proposal “ridiculous” and said he fears it is contributing to “gas stove hysteria.”
Ryan said there isn’t enough evidence about the alleged health risks of gas stoves and that if they are dangerous, there should be a program to do something instead of just sticking a label. When it comes to carbon emissions, he says, other appliances like furnaces and hot water heaters use much more energy.
The labeling language softens as each state’s legislative session progresses. New York’s proposed warning originally noted that components of natural gas, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide are “toxic” and “can lead to the development of asthma, especially in children.” Lawmakers removed those phrases on June 3, after the Home Appliance Manufacturers Association pushed back on the asthma link in particular.
The American Medical Association has recognized the link between nitrogen dioxide and asthma, and environmentalists point to recent studies from Stanford University that found benzene and nitrogen dioxide from stoves linger in homes for hours. But a World Health Organization study found there was no significant link with asthma in children or adults.
The group claims that they are being scapegoated and that electric heaters also pollute the air when heating food and oil.
“We are an industry that has been attacked over and over again because of gas, which is a political agenda,” said AHAM spokesperson Jill Notini.
The trade group also asked to remove all references to specific gases, diseases and agency findings so that the label would only warn of “gases, odors, particles and byproducts from heated foods, which can affect indoor air quality.” The group’s preferred label would also recommend “adequate ventilation or filtration in the area where cooking appliances are in use,” instead of New York’s warning that “properly installed and functioning outdoor ventilation can reduce but not eliminate emissions.”
The bill’s sponsor, Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, a Long Island Democrat, said the compromises resulted in a common-sense bill that should move forward.
“They made that suggestion and we kind of agree with it,” she said. “People need to know that good ventilation can reduce some of the effects.”
California’s proposed label originally cited the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a state environmental health agency as saying indoor heaters emit pollutants at concentrations that exceed outdoor air quality standards. Pellerin amended it last week to remove these references, while the New York and Illinois bills retain the EPA reference.
The nonprofit Public Interest Research Group, which is sponsoring the California and Illinois bills, said the organization changed the language to protect against industry lawsuits. The changes are more in line with the advisory language from California’s air regulators.
Jenn Engstrom, director of the group’s California chapter, said the warning labels are mainly about health, but also about climate. The group is also suing GE Appliances over the company’s alleged failure to inform the public about the health risks of stoves.
“It’s both,” she said. ‘We concentrate more on the health aspects. But methane is also released.”
The association of device manufacturers remains opposed to all bills despite the changes, Notini said.
“It’s not our language and it’s not better,” she said. “It is still a very direct blow for gas products. What we’re trying to do is change the conversation and say to these lawmakers, if this really isn’t about gas cooking, let’s talk more broadly about indoor air quality.”
The labeling campaign comes after environmentalists’ crusade against natural gas appliances has suffered several setbacks.
A lawsuit by the California Restaurant Association against Berkeley’s first ban on natural gas hookups in new buildings resulted in a settlement in March in which Berkeley agreed to drop the ban. Cities and state agencies in California have since relied on building efficiency standards instead of bans.
In New York, lawmakers passed a bill last year to restrict gas stoves and ovens in new buildings. But a proposal by Gov. Kathy Hochul to limit the replacement of gas heating equipment over the next decade has been joined by a federal battle over gas stoves. The federal fight flared last year after Republicans acted on a suggestion from a member of the five-member Consumer Product Safety Commission, who mentioned the possibility of a future ban on new gas stoves. The Biden administration subsequently made it clear that it was not interested in doing so.
The labeling bill gained traction in New York from groups like Climate Action Now, the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council, as a more aggressive measure to open the door to neighborhood-scale transitions to electric heating and cooking faltered this year.
Supporters see the labeling measure as lower hanging fruit with less chance of vocal opposition.
“This bill just informs consumers about a potential danger, and they can make their own choice, and that’s what America is all about,” Solages said.
New York’s bill failed to advance before the state’s legislative session ended last week, while Illinois’ most recent proposal failed to gain support this year. Both are expected to be reintroduced next year. Meanwhile, the California bill is drawing opposition from the construction industry, a gas utility and the Western Propane Gas Association, along with appliance manufacturers, although the natural gas industry’s main arm, the American Gas Association, has not taken a position.
Kevin Messner, vice president at the appliance manufacturers group, said the proposals ignore what he believes is a bigger risk: the tiny particles, known as PM 2.5, that come from cooking on both gas and electric stoves. hotplates. The industry wants labels to focus on ventilation.
“Let’s be realistic about indoor air quality,” Messner said during a hearing on a bill in California. “When you cook, you need ventilation – electric or gas.”
