Dakota Beacon

Recently there has been a lot of attention paid to gas stove emissions and to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Commissioner Richard Trumka, Jr. (yes, THAT Trumka, son of the late AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka) suggested gas stoves could be banned in the future because of their “health risk.” However, scant evidence supports that claim. “This is a hidden hazard,” Trumka said. “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”

Whoa! Trumka just let the cat out of the bag!

His boss, CPSC Chairman Alexander D. Hoehn-Saric attempted a hasty “clarification” assuring Americans that the agency does not intend to ban stoves. In a statement Hoehn-Saric said, “To be clear, I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so.” In turn, Trumka followed up with his own equivocation that any regulation would only pertain to new appliances.

Trumka was called out on Twitter by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.). “This type of power should never have been given to unelected bureaucrats...” After Hoehn-Saric chimed in, Palmer was unconvinced. “As I said yesterday, unelected bureaucrats should not have the type of power to even consider such an action,” he tweeted. “It is time to rein in the Biden administration and their continual desire to control American’s lives and decisions.”

From all intents and purposes, it sounds as if the Biden administration is gaslighting America. Does the term “gaslighting” sound familiar? Here is a definition of gaslighting: To manipulate someone using psychological methods into questioning their own sanity or powers of reasoning. It is a form of narcissistic abuse that involves tactics causing a person to question their sanity and doubt their perception of reality. The goal is to gain control over a person’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. In the end, it can cause emotional damage.

That said, the CPSC claims that gas stoves cause asthma in kids and is linked to respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular problems, cancer, and other health conditions.

           Except they don’t. The science is startingly clear on this. There is “no evidence of an association between the use of gas as a cooking fuel and either asthma symptoms or asthma diagnosis,” per a multi-year study tracking more than 500,000 kids worldwide. (See the multi-year study at National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24429203/)

That the legacy media may cite an alternative study or two suggests that deceivers can selectively use statistics, too. Especially when such “studies” come from the radical green Rocky Mountain Institute and are tainted with their anti-carbon agenda.

Additionally, any ban makes no sense from a science-based green perspective, since the electric stoves that would replace gas ones would be overwhelmingly powered by – wait for it -- fossil fuels including (gasp) coal, and oil.

After the news of a possible ban broke, the feds were quick to insist that a gas stove ban isn’t coming anytime soon. Believe that if you will, but the crusaders won’t stop. The bans are “green” in sentiment only, not science. In their narcissistic self-righteous belief, the “green sentimentalists” keep laying guilt trips on ordinary Americans. Don’t buy into it! And adding a bogus “health” excuse only adds to their theoretical deception.

In their brilliance, the CPSC does, in fact, plan to open a public comment period on their stove ban initiative this winter. Expect more “emissions theater.”

A famous man once said, “Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgments of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent or sudden usurpations.” How right he was. That man was James Madison delivering a speech in 1788 in favor of the federal constitution and its protection of the people. He understood tyranny first hand.

The brilliance and prescience of our Founders with their thoughts about governance never ceases to astound me. Read them, respect them, revere them.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).