A recent study published by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that gas-burning stoves are responsible for roughly 12.7% of childhood asthma cases across the United States, nearly equal to childhood asthma risks from exposure to secondhand smoke.
“Technology has now progressed to the point where it really is possible to imagine that we could stop burning things in general, and ending the campfire in your kitchen might be a good beginning to that,” said Bill McKibben, an environmentalist and writer, on Boston Public Radio Tuesday.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is now weighing new regulations on indoor air pollution from gas stoves based on the study — which, as McKibben put it, “occassioned the next entirely predictable right-wing nonsense freakout.” The news cycle churned as Republican officials railed against the Biden administration for considering a ban on gas stoves, leading the commission chair to put out a statement reading, in part, “I am not looking to ban gas stoves.”
“No one actually — probably sadly — even is trying to take away anyone’s gas stove,” McKibben said.
“If people are worried about gas in their kitchen, and they should be, there’s a quick, easy, temporary fix,” he added.
Electric induction cooktops generate energy from electromagnetic fields below their glass cooktop surfaces. Electrical currents are then transferred directly to magnetic cookware, making it easy for the cooktop itself to heat up and cool down faster — and saving energy and money in the process.
Electricity costs aren’t as variable as oil and gas, either, making them a “better bet” in the future.
Rebates and tax credits are also available from the federal government for energy-efficient appliances, including induction cooktops, ranges and ovens under the Inflation Reduction Act. But for those still on the fence, McKibben suggests using a portable Duxtop induction burner to get a taste.
“I used one of them for years before I had the whole range installed,” McKibben said. “They work great.”
