Republicans are waging war against the Biden administration’s attempt to ban gas stoves and restrict appliances, telling Democrats to “keep their hands off.”
On Tuesday, the House passed the ‘Hands Off Our Appliances Act’ by a vote of 212 to 195, largely dividing along party lines. It’s one of many appliance-related bills the GOP has planned for this Congress.
Passage of the bill is a direct rebuke to the Biden administration’s attempt to restrict stoves and other gas-powered appliances in homes across the United States, and other green initiatives.
Specifically, the proposed legislation, which will be sent to the Senate, modifies existing policy to reform the Department of Energy’s (DOE) procedures for issuing energy efficiency standards.
Among the many reforms the bill introduces, the most notable is reducing the Secretary of Energy’s ability to ban fuel-based products, essentially banning bans on products that run on natural gas, such as stoves.
The bill seeks to restrict the Secretary of Energy’s ability to prohibit or restrict appliances based on the type of fuel they use to operate, such as natural gas stoves.
Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., introduced the ‘No Hands on Our Appliances Act’ in November
The bill also requires DOE to consider the cost to low-income households when determining new energy standards, as well as eliminate unnecessary rulemaking requirements.
It would also set minimum thresholds for energy and water savings standards before those new requirements are imposed.
“It saddens me that we need a bill like this,” Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., who introduced the measure, said Tuesday morning at a news conference promoting the legislation.
“However, as we have experienced during this administration, the Department of Energy has unleashed an avalanche of new regulations for household products, including stoves, dishwashers, washing machines, showers, toilets, water heaters, air conditioners, heat pumps and boilers.” .
“No government bureaucrat should ever plan to take away Americans’ appliances in the name of a radical environmental agenda,” Lesko continued.
“Yet, that is exactly what we have seen under the Biden administration.”
The Arizona Republican previously led the charge in the House defending the ‘Save Our Gas Stoves Act,’ which passed the chamber in June 2023.
The stove legislation has not been touched on in the Senate since then and still remains in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
At the time, Lesko said Biden’s policies would have banned nearly all operating gas stoves across the United States.
“According to the Department of Energy’s own white paper, 96 percent of the gas stove market share will not meet the DOE’s proposed new rule,” he said. “That’s a 96 percent ban.”
The DOE finalized new rules for washer and dryer energy standards in February.
Rep. Debbie Lesko speaks during a press conference with House GOP leadership promoting her “Don’t Touch Our Appliances Act.”
In recent years, the Biden administration’s DOE has proposed many emissions rule changes for everyday appliances, such as stoves, washing machines, water heaters, and more.
They have irked consumer advocacy groups, who argue that the restrictions will increase costs and users who don’t want to part with their beloved tools.
“The pettiness of micromanaging consumer choice would be comical if it weren’t so destructive to Americans’ quality of life,” Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, a nonprofit advocacy organization, told DailyMail.com. to the consumer, about Biden’s appliance initiatives. .
“Biden’s strict appliance regulations have made basic goods even more expensive in an economy where inflation is already destroying consumers’ purchasing power.”
“Far from protecting the environment, these regulations only serve to line the pockets of ESG elites who profit from the sale of these so-called green appliances.”
And Republicans have a long list of other appliance-related bills coming down the pike.
The House GOP is also considering the ‘Laundry Freedom Act,’ the ‘Clothes Dryer Reliability Act,’ the ‘Refrigerator Freedom Act,’ the ‘Affordable Air Conditioning Act.’ ‘ and the ‘Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards Act.’
It is unclear when the remaining enforcement laws will be put to a vote, but it is expected to be soon.