Up In Flames

 

When moving from New York to Florida, my wife and I went through the usual rituals that all property sellers go through: touch up painting to hide scuff marks, renting storage units to declutter the apartment, and replacing worn out appliances. The last task fell squarely on me, so off I went to the appliance store to replace our well-worn gas range. While finalizing the paperwork, I noticed an electric stove in the corner of the showroom. Off-handedly I remarked to the salesman, “I didn’t even know you stocked those,” pointing to the lonely appliance. “I haven’t sold one of those in four years.” came the reply.

If the Democrats have their way, that salesman might only have electric stoves to sell, that is if anyone has the electricity to power them.

To say that the far left has declared war on any fossil fuel is like saying Vladimir Putin is just looking for some extra real estate in Ukraine. Parts of the Biden administration want to declare all gas stoves unsafe, not because they can blow up, but that they could, under certain circumstances, emit toxic gases if they weren’t maintained and if there wasn’t proper ventilation. New York Governor Kathy Hochul included banning the sales of gas stoves after 2030 in her current budget legislation, giving the New Jersey mob ample opportunity for yet more illicit income across the border. Not to be outdone, New York City plans to ban new building construction that includes natural gas lines. And on it goes.

The sad part, besides the lack of any rational thought, is that this nation used to come up with national polies that most people could accept without destroying the very things we need. When it became clear that lead exposure was inherently dangerous to human health, we didn’t ban gas or cars—we just banned leaded gasoline. As a society we now contend with catalytic converter theft rings (more money for the mob!), but taking lead out of the air is something we can agree upon as worth the cost.

Similarly, the elimination of phosphates from laundry detergents made these products less efficient, but as a nation we are willing to pay Proctor & Gamble a few extra bucks to engineer a better Tide rather than have dead fish washing up on our shores. The simple soda can no longer has a pull tab that creates loose garbage and a choking hazard—we happily open our beverage with the self-contained push tab.

The irony is that propane, natural gas’s cousin, is seen as environmentally better and healthier to users in other parts of the world. And by “parts” I mean the estimated 3 billion people who use what are known as “biomass” (wood, dried dung, and charcoal) for cooking fuel. Especially when used inside, the toxic fumes these fuels emit make the average car tailpipe look like fresh Alpine air. With this revelation, the US government was firmly behind an international effort to give these third-world cooks free portable propane stoves so they would stop using their biomass fuels. And who was the point person giving the thumbs up? None other than Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her time in the Obama administration. It seems Democrats find it easier to admit that fossil fuels have a useful place thousands of miles away than here at home.

I don’t have a “solution” for the opponents of natural gas stoves. I know that small, local landlords don’t have a couple of grand for each apartment that needs rewiring (can we say mob-controlled union electricians?), especially since local politicians won’t allow those same landlords to recoup their costs because of rent control. Even power authority executives admit that this country’s electric grid doesn’t have the capacity to replace gas stoves, and that doesn’t even take into consideration all those electric cars that will need juice. Maybe we just start accepting life as a third-world country (or California), with rolling blackouts and spotty energy supplies.

My wife and I will soon be moving into our new house in Florida, and the outdoor grill is waiting. Waiting for us to light up its natural gas flames, that is.

© 2023 Alexander W. Stephens, All Rights Reserved