Energy Secretary Says ‘Awful Lot of Misinformation’ on Gas Stove Ban

Rep. Dan Newhouse( R-Wash. ) questioned Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm about her department’s proposed rule on the appliances on March 23 during a hearing on President Joe Bidens’ proposed budget, which focused on gas stoves.

Granholm informed Newhouse that” there has been a ton of false information floating around about this.”

On February 1, the Department of Energy( DoE ) proposed a rule that could effectively remove many gas stoves from the market. A ban on gas stoves was” on the table ,” according to Richard Trumka Jr., a commissioner with the Consumer Product Safety Commission ( CPSC ), who made that proposal just weeks prior.

On January 11, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, the head of the CPSC, retorted,” I am truly looking to ban oil heaters, and there is no moving to do so.”

Granholm also echoed White House commentary on Jan. 11 downplaying talk of a ban when he said in late January that the idea of banning gas stoves was” so crazy” and” even neither true.”

However, Trumka claimed in an internal memo from October 2022 that the individual had sufficient justification to suggest a gas heater restrictions in homes this fiscal year.

You can view the document, which has been reviewed by The Epoch Times, around.

By making a formal request for information about the potential health risks of gas-powered heaters earlier this month, the CPSC moved closer to different gas burner rules.

You can view that get around.

Feedback on the DoE suggestion

On March 23, Granholm informed Newhouse that a recent consent decree had something to do with the schedule of the DoE’s most current proposal.

She said,” We are simply adhering to the program that has been requested of us.”

By January 31, 2024, DoE must treat gas stoves, either through different energy conservation standards or by deciding not to change the current ones. This consent decree was issued in response to a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club, some environmental organizations, and countless states.

Granholm continued by saying that” half of the gas heaters currently on the market wouldn’t even be impacted” by the change.

She asserted that because of their heavier vents and oval-shaped stoves,” high-end oil stoves” were the ones at risk.

Those characteristics were described by Granholm as” a inefficient use of herbal oil.”

She continued,” It certainly doesn’t argue that anyone who has a gas stove would have it taken away.”

The conversation took place while the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies was hearing.

Granholm omitted to tackle Newhouse’s criticisms of the DoE proposal and its possible effects on restaurants, which frequently use gas stoves.

Regulations intended to stop the Biden administration from enacting any gas stove bans was simply introduced by House Republicans a few days ago.

As politicians questioned Granholm about taking on the DoE in the 2024 funding Biden proposed on March 9, there was an exchange on gas heaters.

Biden wants the DoE’s allowance to be increased by 13.6 percent from what was passed in 2023. A total of$ 52 million would be received by the department.

According to the Office of Management and Budget’s( OMB ) budget document,” DoE spending” advances environmental justice and equity ,” including through”$ 54 million for the office of economic impact and diversity to help implement the Department of Justice40 Initiative efforts.”

That represents a significant increase from the FY 2023 allowance, which allocated$ 34 million to that office.

In FY 2022, the exact work only received$ 20 million, or roughly 37 percent of what the president wants just two years later.

Granholm’s evidence was given the same day that the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works heard Michael Regan, the superintendent of the Environmental Protection Agency, discuss the budget for Biden.

The House Appropriations Committee heard numerous hearings on March 23 regarding particular portions of Biden’s funding request.

Some sessions taking place today focus on budget demands from the Department of Defense, the Office of Justice’s Inspector General, and the U.S. Forest Service.