UPDATE: This story has been updated to include an additional statement from Richard Trumka.
Both of President Joe Biden’s Delaware homes appear to have the very appliance his administration is contemplating banning — gas stoves.
Richard Trumka Jr., a top Consumer Product Safety Commission official who was nominated by Biden, told Bloomberg on Monday that banning the manufacture and import of gas stoves is “on the table” if they “can’t be made safe.” However, Biden’s home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware features an upscale kitchen “any gourmet chef would die for” that appears to have a gas-powered stove, according to a Long & Foster Real Estate listing. The Bidens purchased the home for $2.74 million in 2017. (RELATED: Biden Presided Over Record Spike In CO2 Emissions During His First Year In Office)
Back in September 2020, first lady Jill Biden shared a picture of herself cooking spinach on a gas stovetop at what appears to be the Bidens’ family home in Wilmington, Delaware. Months earlier, Mrs. Biden posted photos of herself and her husband coloring Easter eggs in that same kitchen. The Bidens’ gas stovetop features prominently in one of the photos.
Hey @Antoni, what are you cooking tonight? pic.twitter.com/otSh31u5E3
— Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) September 2, 2020
Trumka told Bloomberg that gas stoves, which are present in 35% of American households, represent a “hidden hazard” to families in the wake of recent studies, one of which attributed about 12.7% of childhood asthma cases to the appliance. Trumka stated in December that a complete ban on gas stoves was “a real possibility,” The Hill reported.
While our family may be physically distancing, our traditions keep us connected. Ready for Easter! pic.twitter.com/Ay3hkAzlq3
— Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) April 12, 2020
Industry officials and public health experts have disputed studies claiming links between asthma and gas stove tops. Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz was quick to highlight the Bidens’ ownership of a gas stove at their Wilmington home.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and World Health Organization previously declared that the levels of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and soot released by gas stoves are linked to respiratory illnesses and other health concerns, according to a January 2022 study published by the American Chemical Society. At the same time, the EPA has stated that a properly ventilated kitchen equipped with a stovetop fan “greatly reduces exposure to pollutants during cooking.”
However, households with electric stoves reported fires 2.6 times more than residences with gas stoves to cause fires, according to a 2020 National Fire Protection Association report. The house fire death rate in electric stove households was 3.4 times higher than those with gas appliances while the injury rate in electric-run homes was nearly five times greater.
Trumka said that the Consumer Product Safety Commission was not “coming for anyone’s gas stoves”, according to a Jan. 9 tweet.
The White House did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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