Although Attorney General Andrew Bailey has joined a coalition of 21 attorney generals who oppose the Biden administration decision to limit gas stoves, a local environmental group is skeptical.
“This coalition is probably not going anywhere,” said James Owen, an attorney and executive director of Renew Missouri energy group. “The federal government has a lot of dominance in areas of health and public safety.”
The coalition formed after the Biden Administration issued proposed standards for conventional cooking products that would illegalize more than half of the gas stoves currently for sale nationwide.
"These standards represent another attempt by this Administration to micromanage the lives of Americans — and there is little to support this claim of regulatory authority," the Attorneys General said in a letter to the Department of Energy Secretary.
Other member states of the coalition include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
“At Renew Missouri, our position is that we believe the country will benefit from electrification and we believe that appliances should be electric,” Owen told the St. Louis Record. “I think that is a more environmentally sound approach. Having said that, I think it's going to take a while to get there.”
Funding from the Inflation Reduction Act will help electrify appliances statewide, according to Owen.
“There's going to be energy efficiency rebates, tax credits, and larger programs that will help low-income customers be able to make that transition,” he said. “There's a lot of money in there for heat pumps, energy efficiency and I think all of that can go towards upgrading and improving Missourians' appliances in their homes.”
However, the AGs believe the rule, proposed by the Department of Energy, improperly employs the social costs of carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions to justify the restrictions. The generals further argue that the data is based on arbitrary assumptions.
“The Department should consider whether regulation of gas stoves results in substitution to electric stoves with a corresponding increase in demand for electricity and attendant effects on a stretched power grid and on pollution,” the April 3 letter states.
General Bailey and the other states also assert that the Energy Department ignored the implications of the federal government interfering with the States’ traditional authority to regulate consumer goods.
“As Attorney General, I will enforce the laws as written and block the Biden Administration from unilaterally creating regulations that unlawfully interfere with Missourians’ ability to live freely,” Bailey said in a statement online. “I’m proud to stand with 21 other states against yet another attempt by the federal government to force its radical climate ideology onto everyday Americans.”