The sudden eruption of the gas stove as a culture-war item is surprising to me. I had no idea so many progressives in my life had grown so tired of gas-stove apologetics, having exhaustively heard all the defenses, as far as I can tell, before they were even made.
It’s true that some gas stoves are not installed with proper ventilation. And yet, millions of Americans have been cooking with gas safely since they were children. (I probably made my first grilled-cheese sandwich on my grandmother’s 1960s-era stove when I was eight years old.)
I can see some benefits in switching to an induction stove if we ever renovate our kitchen, but my problem in general is states’ phasing out of gas without sufficient replacements. New York recently shut down its Indian Point nuclear plant and replaced it with, well, nothing. New construction projects in my area are forbidden from accessing the existing gas system, despite the fact that — if we wanted to — New York could tap into plentiful natural gas coming from Pennsylvania. Instead, if we don’t want to go through a massive renovation of the entire house and the systems it relies on, we have to install a new gas boiler, new kitchen appliances, and new hot-water heaters before the end of the decade and defer said massive renovation until those appliances die out.
New York is eschewing cheap and abundant sources of energy (nuclear and gas) and demanding that we undertake expensive home upgrades without ensuring that the power to run them will be as cheap or abundant. I keep hearing from progressive pundits about switching to an agenda of “abundance” rather than a climate policy of universal austerity: When will that translate to state action and legislation?