FIRST ON FOX: A group of 13 Republican senators filed a comment letter with the Department of Energy (DOE) on Monday evening, arguing the agency's proposed gas stove regulations would harm Americans.
The GOP lawmakers — led by Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., a senior member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee — argued in the letter addressed to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm that the DOE regulations are unwise, harmful to the nation and detrimental to the U.S. economy. They also said the actions appear to contradict President Biden's stated opposition to a gas stove ban.
"The Biden Administration’s proposed ban on gas stoves is wildly out of touch with the American people and insensitive to the financial hardship the White House has pushed on families from their reckless economic policies," Marshall told Fox News Digital in a statement.
"We will not accept this direct assault on consumer choice," he continued. "Millions of Americans rely on natural gas and propane for their daily needs. I’m calling on the DOE to find energy standards that help Americans instead of restricting them."
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The DOE unveiled the regulations targeting stovetops in early February, saying, if finalized, they would go into effect in 2027 and save Americans up to $1.7 billion while curbing greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve the emissions reductions, the rules propose to restrict certain features of natural gas-powered stoves that consumer groups have argued would substantially diminish product quality.
Overall, under the proposal, just 50% of the gas stoves currently on the market would be allowed to be sold. The DOE clarified the estimated number of gas stoves it said would meet the new requirements after its own data suggested 96% of gas stoves would be banned under the regulations.
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In their letter, the Republicans said the regulations appear to be "direct attack on the use of natural gas with little to no consumer benefit." They said Americans should be allowed to have the freedom to choose which types of gas stoves and which product features they want.
"We firmly believe in the free market and the ability of American citizens to make their own choices," they stated. "By effectively banning gas stovetops through the imposition of excessively stringent efficiency standards, the Department of Energy is depriving Americans of the freedom to choose the type of appliance that best suits their needs, whether it is for cooking, heating, or any other purpose."
The lawmakers concluded their comments, saying the DOE should work with manufacturers and consumer groups to determine the best energy efficiency standards. They added that the agency should refrain from imposing standard that serve to ban gas stoves, instead taking action that would incentivize voluntary purchases of more efficient appliances.
"The Biden administration and Senate Democrats’ war on American energy continues," Daines told Fox News Digital. "First, they killed the Keystone XL pipeline, folks can’t afford to fill up our pick-ups or heat our homes and now they’re coming for our gas stoves."
"The Democrats live in a green hallucination and this bogus regulation shows just how out-of-touch they really are," the Montana Republican added. "I will fight Biden’s anti-American energy agenda every step of the way."
In addition to Marshall and Daines, Republican Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Todd Young of Indiana, Joni Ernst of Iowa, James Risch of Idaho, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, John Hoeven of North Dakota, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana signed the comment letter.
The DOE proposal, meanwhile, came less than a month after a President Biden-appointed member of the little-known Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) made headlines when he told Bloomberg in early January that a gas stove ban was "on the table" given the product's purported impacts on health.
The White House later denounced a ban, but the CPSC said it would proceed with taking in public feedback on gas stove safety.
