In the News

It’s getting hot in here. ​A Biden-appointed commissioner at the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission tried to turn down the temperature after a report that the agency was considering a national ban on gas stoves because they emit harmful pollutants. “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned,” he told the news outlet.​ According to Bloomberg, recent studies by the American Chemical Society and New York University Law School’s Institute for Policy Integrity ​​found gas stoves emit pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, ca​rbon monoxide and fine matter at levels considered unsafe by the Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization.

The U.S. as a whole could be edging nearer to a ban on gas stoves, if the interest of a federal consumer safety agency is any indication. Gas stoves, particularly those that are not well ventilated — or for which homeowners do not consistently use ventilation — emit air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter into the home at levels the Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization have said are unsafe and that are linked to respiratory illness, including asthma, cardiovascular problems, cancer and other health conditions. That’s according to reports by groups such as the Institute for Policy Integrity and the American Chemical Society. 

The Biden administration is considering a nationwide ban on gas stoves — citing the harmful pollutants released by the appliances, according to a report. Reports by groups including the American Chemical Society and New York University Law School’s Institute for Policy Integrity found gas stoves — which are used in about 40% of US homes while the remainder use various forms of electric cookers — emit pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, ca​rbon monoxide and fine matter at levels deemed unsafe by the Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization.

A federal agency says a ban on gas stoves is on the table amid rising concern about harmful indoor air pollutants emitted by the appliances. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to take action to address the pollution, which can cause health and respiratory problems. Natural gas stoves, which are used in about 40% of homes in the US, emit air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter at levels the EPA and World Health Organization have said are unsafe and linked to respiratory illness, cardiovascular problems, cancer, and other health conditions, according to reports by groups such as the Institute for Policy Integrity and the American Chemical Society.

A federal agency says a ban on gas stoves is on the table amid rising concern about harmful indoor air pollutants emitted by the appliances. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to take action to address the pollution, which can cause health and respiratory problems. Natural gas stoves, which are used in about 40% of homes in the US, emit air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter at levels the EPA and World Health Organization have said are unsafe and linked to respiratory illness, cardiovascular problems, cancer, and other health conditions, according to reports by groups such as the Institute for Policy Integrity and the American Chemical Society.

The White House on Friday released its long-awaited guidance telling agencies how to consider the climate impacts of proposed projects. As a whole, the new instructions could provide a legal backbone to agency permitting decisions, clearing up ambiguity over whether a given agency went far enough in analyzing a proposed project’s effect on the climate. Agencies have too often in the past ignored or downplayed the climate impacts of proposed projects, but the new guidance should force a more meaningful accounting, said Max Sarinsky, senior attorney at New York University School of Law’s Institute for Policy Integrity.

President Joe Biden released his next regulatory to-do list on Wednesday, detailing his ambitions to influence industries, institutions and communities through the government’s rulemaking power. Agencies will have to finish a few tasks before the policies take effect, including drafting rules and collecting feedback. The White House regulations office will sign off on each rule before it is published and takes effect. The Senate in December confirmed Richard Revesz, a lawyer who specializes in regulation and climate change, to lead that team.

Just before adjourning the 117th Congress, the Senate confirmed Richard Revesz to lead the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), giving the office its first permanent leader under President Biden. With a divided Congress, Biden will need OIRA’s help to advance his agenda through regulation and carry out the laws he’s already signed—most notably the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The White House released a plan on Wednesday for how the Biden administration seeks to foster a more open and accountable government. Other forthcoming actions include plans over the next year to expand coverage of waivers for domestic procurement laws posted on the “Made in America” website, which was launched under Biden, and to bolster community engagement in the rulemaking process. Richard Revesz, the newly confirmed administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, housed within the White House Office of Management and Budget, will likely be very involved in this.

To prevent power outages like those that occurred during Winter Storm Uri, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) is considering a fundamental overhaul of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’s (ERCOT) wholesale electricity market. We urge the PUCT to consider whether incentivizing more generation is needed or whether the key issue is enhancing the resilience of existing generation to extreme weather events. We then explain why any new reliability mechanism should compensate both dispatchable and non-dispatchable resources according to their reliability value, include an efficient penalty structure for non-performance of generation units, reduce uncertainty for market participants, and mitigate the exercise of market power.