The House of Representatives approved an amendment — with help from several Democrats — late Wednesday that would prevent the Department of Energy (DOE) from implementing strict new regulations on gas stoves that most stoves on the market today would not be able to meet.
The House voted 251 to 181 in favor of the amendment from Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., to a larger energy policy bill, and 29 Democrats voted with the GOP.
Republicans have been looking to defend the use of gas stoves ever since the Consumer Product Safety Commission indicated it could ban stoves for health reasons. That idea was scrapped, but it was followed by a proposed DOE regulation that would impose tough new energy efficiency standards for gas stoves.
Palmer, head of the House Republican Policy Committee, criticized House Democrats for largely voting against his amendment in comments to Fox News Digital.
‘Despite all their words to the contrary, House Democrats are supportive of federal bureaucrats’ attempts to ban gas stoves. By voting against my amendment to prevent the Department of Energy from implementing its anti-natural gas agenda, they have shown themselves to be complicit,’ Palmer told Fox News Digital.
‘Clearly, the plan to ban gas stoves was already in the works even before federal bureaucrats said the quiet part out loud earlier this year,’ he said. ‘Republicans are meeting this attempt to dismantle American energy head on and will continue to empower Americans to choose what appliances belong in their kitchens, not have it dictated to them by a bureaucrat with a political agenda.’
In a proposed rule posted online last month and a followup analysis of that rule, the department estimated that about half of the gas stoves on the market today would not meet the new standard.
Palmer’s amendment, if implemented contingent on Republicans’ energy bill’s passage, will stop DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm from implementing the new regulations and would prevent similar rules from being introduced.
About 38% of American households, or roughly 40 million, use natural gas to cook in their homes.
Two similar bills to halt the rule’s implementation were introduced by House Republicans earlier this month.
