in Washington, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill, Tuesday, June 13, to block the Consumer Product Safety Commission from regulating gas stoves as banned products—even though the agency says they do not intend to ban them.
 
But, the "Gas Stove Protection Freedom Act", passed by a margin of 248 to 180, including all but one of Ohio's Republican delegation, goes further than that, by also blocking the safety commision from imposing regulations on gas stoves, if they would "ban their use or sale, or substanitally increase their average price".
 
Democrats deny the Biden administration has any plans to ban gas stoves, calling it a "conspiracy theory" designed to embroil Congress in culture wars that "shed more heat than light " and are likely spurred on with "healthy helping" of fossil fuel lobbying dollars.

So, what's really going on here? We looked into it a few months ago, on "This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro".

What you'll hear, is a conversation about how the use of gas to power home appliances is a significant source of fossil fuel-related global warming, and that particulates in the air from gas appliance emissions can contribute to illnesses including asthma in children. But the question is, what to do about it?

Of course, in a state like Ohio, where natural gas production is a huge money maker, source of jobs, and used for stoves in 34% of homes; any hint of regulation can be quite controversial. 

After yesterday's vote, Republican US Congressman, Max Miller posted on Twitter about the need to "preserve choice" for consumers, and US Representative, Jim Jordan Tweeted "Save Gas Stoves!"

Listen now for a little more of the backstory on this topic, in the podcast we first aired back in January.