Eleven Democratic attorneys general called on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Monday to address “health hazards associated with gas stoves.”
The group, led by Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb, sent a letter asking the CPSC to collect information and find “the best path forward” to limit harms allegedly caused by gas stoves, being mindful of their “disproportionate impact on underserved communities.”
The letter comes as the Biden administration has continually moved closer to regulating gas stoves; in March, CPSC Commissioner Rich Trumka Jr. requested the public submit research on the health impacts of gas stove emissions.
“District residents are entitled to carry out everyday tasks like cooking without risk to their health and well-being,” Schwalb said in a statement to Fox 5 DC. “Gas stoves emit air pollutants that put people—particularly children—at risk of asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Along with other State AGs, I urge the CPSC to develop uniform performance and ventilation standards for gas stoves and to increase consumer awareness about the health risks these appliances pose.”
The group asked the CPSC to “develop voluntary standards or mandatory regulations” that limit emissions following an information gathering process.
A December 2022 study linking childhood asthma to gas stoves was backed by two nonprofits actively working for the adoption of electric appliances, receiving part of its funding from the nonprofit group RMI, which aims to “accelerate the clean energy transition” by “transforming the global energy system,” the Daily Caller News Foundation reported in January.
The New York State Assembly passed a law last week that bans adding new natural gas hookups in many new buildings by 2026, making it the first state to pass such a law. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a similar ban instituted by the city of Berkeley, California, in April.
Attorneys general from Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and the City of New York joined Schwalb’s letter.
The CPSC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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