Gas stove updates: Biden, Heinrich, Congress weigh in

The debate over gas stoves continues apace with several news items from the past few weeks. Sen. Martin Heinrich again claims that no effort or plan is underway to ban gas stoves. But, in response to a federal court ruling that prohibited local governments from banning gas stoves, the Biden Administration has filed a “friend of the court” or amicus brief in support of local stove bans (even though the ruling said that power was reserved for the federal government).

And then two bills were voted on in Congress this past week dealing with gas stoves. Click on the links to get the roll call votes: H. R. 1615 prohibits the Consumer Product Safety Commission from banning gas stoves or passing regulations that substantially increases their price.

H. R. 1640 prohibits the Department of the Energy (DOE) from regulating gas stoves out of existence.

Both bills passed the House on a bipartisan basis. Of New Mexico’s congressional delegation, only Rep. Gabe Vasquez voted “Yes” and only on HR 1615.