NY will keep its gas stoves — Gov. Hochul doesn’t plan ban

ALBANY — Gov. Hochul landed in hot water this week amid a nationwide uproar over gas stoves.

New Yorkers who love cooking with flames need not fear — Hochul and state government aren’t looking to ban gas stoves in existing homes at the moment.

Among a host of climate-friendly proposals pitched by the governor as she delivered her her State of the State address, Hochul unveiled a potential ban on the sale of fossil fuel burning heating equipment beginning in 2030 as well as a requirement that new residential and commercial buildings go all-electric over the next decade.

The fossil fuel phase out does not include gas stoves, according to the governor’s office.

The plan would prohibit the sale of any new fossil fuel heating equipment by 2030 for smaller buildings and 2035 for larger buildings, along with related fossil fuel systems for all buildings.

“Gov. Hochul has been clear that we have to take bold steps on climate to protect the health and safety of our children, and 30% of state greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings,” spokeswoman Katy Zielinski said. “The equipment phase out proposal would not apply to gas stoves.

“Both proposals include subsequent regulatory processes to examine which exemptions are appropriate,” she added.

That would mean potential exemptions for commercial kitchens, laboratories, laundromats, hospitals, crematoriums and critical infrastructure projects.

Hochul’s plan also calls for new smaller buildings and homes built to be fossil fuel-free by 2025 and larger buildings being all-electric by 2028.

A similar law is already on the books in the city. In 2021, the City Council banned gas hookups in new buildings for stoves, boilers and heaters as well as buildings that undergo gut renovations. Under the law, starting this year, newly constructed buildings under seven stories will not be allowed to use gas for cooking or heating. The same rule will apply to larger buildings beginning in 2027.

Environmental groups applauded the statewide proposals and said they will help New York in achieving the emission reduction goals established by the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

Hochul’s plan, however, sent right wing media into a boil as gas stoves had already become a flash point at the center of a nationwide culture war.

Republicans lit up social media earlier in the week after Richard Trumka Jr., a member of the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, told Bloomberg that “any option is on the table” while discussing health hazards associated with gas stoves.

“Products that can’t be made safe can be banned,” Trumka said.

That led to the likes of former White House physician and current Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Tex.) tweeting that “If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands.”

Despite the Biden administration’s assertion that no nationwide ban was in the works, Republicans railed against the idea of cooking without gas.

“Imagine a world where all tortillas are heated in the microwave. We must take a stand against this insanity,” tweeted Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.). “I will be joining my colleagues this week to introduce legislation that stops this Stove War from happening.”