Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) criticized Republicans for their concern over legislation regulating gas stoves, saying they're more concerned about appliances than climate change.
The "Squad" member said she wished members of her opposing party were as concerned "about black and brown communities" as they are an appliance. Bush added that the proposal is not a ban on gas stoves and is instead a regulation on "indoor air pollution."
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I wish my GOP colleagues were as concerned with protecting Black and brown communities on the frontlines of our climate crisis as they are with spreading lies about long overdue efficiency standards.
— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@RepCori) May 24, 2023
The climate crisis is happening all around us. GOP inaction is costing lives. pic.twitter.com/ByWdWu2TT1
"The proposed rule is not a ban on gas stoves," Bush said during the hearing. "We are regulating indoor air pollution."
The debate in Congress regarding gas stoves started after the Department of Energy unveiled its “Energy Policy and Conservation Program" in February, with the program allowing the DOE to set new efficiency and conservation standards for consumer conventional cooking products, including gas stoves. The DOE said in a memo that the proposed rules would make at least half of U.S. stove models ineligible for repurchase in stores if they were to come into force today.
The House Oversight Committee had invited two DOE officials, Alejandro Moreno, the acting assistant secretary for DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and Dr. Carolyn Snyder, the office's deputy assistant secretary, to testify, but the two declined the offer on Wednesday. The DOE cited the rulemaking process surrounding their new appliance efficiency standards in their refusal to testify.
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In March, Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) introduced H.R. 1640, the Save Our Gas Stoves Act, which would block the Department of Energy from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing its "Energy Policy and Conservation Program" or the rulemaking introduced last month that would allow it to set new energy efficiency and conservation standards for consumer conventional cooking products, including gas stoves. Likewise, Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) introduced H.R. 1615, also known as the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act, which would prohibit the Consumer Product Safety Commission from using federal funds to ban gas stoves.
"Forcing people to switch to expensive alternatives will only further increase costs on hardworking families and disproportionately harm the most vulnerable communities," House Energy and Commerce Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) told the Washington Examiner in praising the two bills.