An interview with a federal official sparked a culture war after he suggested regulators could clamp down on gas stoves more closely due to health concerns. .
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An interview with a federal official sparked a culture war after he suggested regulators could clamp down on gas stoves more closely due to health concerns. .
Scott Olson/Getty photo
In early January, the health and climate impacts of indoor gas cooktops were an issue that policymakers and academics were studying.
Then, on January 9, Bloomberg News published an interview with Richard Trumka, Jr., commissioner of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, who propose that the government may consider more stringent regulation of new gas stoves to address health concerns about indoor air quality.
Within days, those stoves had become fodder for partisan influencers and campaign merchandise.
“God. Guns. Gas stove,” wrote US Congressman Jim Jordan, (R-Ohio) on Twitter.
Florida Governor Ron Desantis’ political organization quickly put up aprons with the yellow Gadsden flag, once the symbol of the Tea Party, for sale. but with the gas stove where the rattlesnake used to sit.
Fox News host Sean Hannity said: “Biden has come not only for your paycheck, but also for your kitchen. You heard me right. The White House is currently trying to ban all ovens and grills. gas furnace”.
Each statement in favor of this stove was made after Trumka was clarify that authorized dealer “don’t come to anyone’s gas stove.”
Gas stoves are a ‘public health concern’
The discussion about stricter regulation of gas stoves comes amid growing research suggesting that children and others with breathing problems such as asthma may experience short-term health effects. term and even long term from the gas stove in the house.
This week, the American Public Health Association released a statement calling the devices “a public health concern“, and called on federal agencies to do more to educate the public about those health risks and conduct further research. Additionally, scientists who study climate change often agreed that the use of natural gas, a fossil fuel in homes, would have to be cut dramatically if the United States were to meet its decarbonization goals.
The natural gas industry, utilities and equipment manufacturers have faced such criticisms for decades before their cause was raised by politicians and those with power. affect.
The response from politically inclined actors was to adopt gas stove-themed versions of the popular gun rights slogan, “Come and get it.”
“This is a really well-developed reflex between the super-partisan media and influencers doing what they do best,” said Jared Holt, a senior research manager at it’s isolating a situation, misrepresenting it and then inciting outrage. And using that to entertain your audience.” The nonprofit Institute for Strategic Dialogue studies extremism and political polarization.
Holt said he treats each cycle of outrage represented as individual drum beats in the song. In his view, gas stoves are incidental to repeating rituals of resentment, cynicism, and ridicule over regulation and groups seen as hostile to conservatives.
Use indignation to score and sell books
Anger also creates money, power, and attention for many people. “My gas stove is identified as an electric stove”, read a post from a TikTok user last week, in which she calmly set a few of her gas stoves up high before sipping what looked like white wine. The post, based on stories claiming liberal views on gender and regulation are absurd, has been viewed nearly two million times.
While gathering views and likes on social media may seem like teenage motivation, Holt points to the characters on the right who have found a way to ignite the flames to become teenagers. prominent influencers, super partisan. Moments like these are an opportunity for anyone with a book or t-shirt to sell, or conspiracy stories to promote.
“I think if it’s paying the bills, that’s a pretty good incentive for most people,” Holt said. Especially if it gives you power and access to massive amounts of influence.”
Melissa Aronczyk, a professor at Rutgers University who has written about public relations and strategic communications in the fight against environmental regulations, says the outrage comes from shaping the debate around the word “forbidden”.
“So I think a word like ‘forbidden’ triggers a series of trains in succession. You can’t tell us what to do. You can’t come into my house and take my stuff. Why? Are you judging my lifestyle choices?” Aronczyk said.
Campaign “Cooking with gas”
Similar frameworks were used around the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, she said, when conservatives opposed to it called it “a command and control organization.” Aronczyk says those arguments frame addressing environmental issues as an economic trade-off.
As the right-wing wave about gas stoves heated up last week, Fox News ran segments featuring restaurant owners saying a gas stove ban would destroy the foodservice industry. For decades, many of the most dedicated activists in the environmental movements have believed that gathering and presenting scientific evidence motivates people to participate and take action, Aronczyk said. That’s definitely not the case, she said.
Meanwhile, she says, PR firms and marketers for the natural gas industry have worked to create a positive association with their products through campaigns like “cook with gas”, including hiring chefs to convey the message that being a good chef means cooking on gas. It’s part of the play, Aronczyk says, it’s basically unchanged since it was used by tobacco industry in the 1960s and 70s.
A debate about cooking at home is much clearer than the complexities of how gas stoves can contribute over time to climate change or public health. Those causes are about collective action and collective harm. “They’re distant and abstract and they’re out there in the future,” said Arie Kruglanski, a professor of psychology at the University of Maryland.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is set to open a process to collect information about gas stoves in March.
