Amid the GOP’s Gas Stove Crusade, Natural Gas Bans Remain a Divisive Issue

While Republicans stoke the flames of a potential gas stove ban that the White House says won’t happen, the general public remains split over possible bans on natural gas hookups in new buildings within their communities, according to a new Morning Consult survey. 

Electric stovetops the main choice for adults, but half say they don’t work as well as gas alternatives

• Among the general public, 42% said they would support a ban on the use of natural gas in new construction in their communities, including 56% of Democrats and 28% of Republicans. Overall, 39% of U.S. adults would oppose such a ban, including 56% of Republicans and 26% of Democrats. The figures were essentially unchanged from a 2021 Morning Consult survey. 
• Similarly, 55% currently use electric stovetops, and 43% use gas stoves — with virtually no partisan differences on the question, consistent with findings in 2021. 
• Within the next 10 years, 2 in 3 respondents said they are at least somewhat likely to consider purchasing an electric stovetop, while half and roughly a third, respectively,  said the same of gas and induction stovetops. 
• Half of adults who said they were unlikely to consider purchasing an electric cooktop said a major reason was that it did not work as well as gas alternatives. 

Gas stove study ignites debate on Capitol Hill

In the latest front of America’s culture war, Republican lawmakers have embraced debate over whether gas stoves are harmful to human health, after a recent peer-reviewed study from environmental think tank RMI grabbed headlines for suggesting the use of gas stoves could be responsible for 12.7% of childhood asthma cases across the country.

After gas stove owners were informed about the study in the survey, 59% of Democrats and 57% of parents said they would be interested in replacing their gas stoves. Among all U.S. adults who own gas stoves, 46% said they would be interested in doing the same, while 44% said they were not interested in replacing their units. 

The study was published after Democratic lawmakers penned a letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission in late December asking the agency to consider requiring gas stoves to be sold with range hoods, include labels educating consumers about the risks of cooking with gas stoves and issue mandatory performance standards. 

A CPSC commissioner later suggested a ban could be on the table, prompting a backlash from Republicans, with some going as far as introducing legislation that would essentially ban the federal government from banning them. 

Since then, the agency’s chair, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, has gone on the record to clarify that while research does indicate emissions from gas stoves can be hazardous, he is not looking into banning gas stoves, nor does the agency have any power to do so. 

Survey conducted Jan. 18-19, 2023, among a representative sample of 2,125 U.S. adults, with an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.