Cities are phasing out gas stoves in favor of electric, but some cooks are pushing back. Some chefs say that the electricity required to power these new appliances is too costly for their business.
Cities are trying to phase out gas stoves, but many cooks are pushing back. The natural gas phase out is a significant change in how cooking is done.
As American towns contemplate phasing out natural-gas connections to homes and businesses to curb carbon emissions, gas-fired stoves are becoming a hot topic.
Many restaurant and home cooks like to cook on gas stovetops, and convincing them to convert to electric stovetops is proving difficult—a sentiment latched upon by the natural-gas industry to mobilize opposition to new municipal laws.
Several jurisdictions, including San Francisco and Seattle, have bowed to pressure on the issue by exempting stoves from natural-gas restrictions or allowing restaurants to apply for exemptions in an effort to avoid negative consequences.
One of the difficulties of decreasing emissions related to climate change is that consumers may have to make personal sacrifices by foregoing items they use and like in favor of less known technology.
George Chen is a member of the Chen family.
Cities limiting a cooking method that adds to the texture and taste of excellent Chinese food, which he claims can’t be accomplished on an electric burner, worried executive chef and creator of San Francisco restaurant China Live.
Mr. Chen said, “I have respect for the environment, and I drive an electric vehicle, and I am willing to pay the additional expenses since the technology is excellent.” “However, claiming that an electric stove is as excellent as a gas stove betrays a fundamental ignorance of the art of cooking.”
Proponents of electrification argue that today’s induction stoves, which utilize electromagnetic current to directly heat cookware, are much superior than older electric cooktops and, once learned, even to gas. However, certain restaurant business organizations and others have resisted attempts to compel them to make the change.
The California Restaurant Association sued when Berkeley, Calif., became the first city in the United States to prohibit natural-gas hookups to new residences and businesses two years ago. The ban, it said, would hurt restaurants that use the fossil fuel to flame-sear meat, char vegetables, and wok-toss rice and noodles. The lawsuit was rejected by a federal court earlier this month, but the restaurant company said it intends to appeal.
Since then, a number of other U.S. cities, including Denver and New York, have enacted or proposed legislation prohibiting or restricting the use of natural gas in new or significantly renovated buildings, in the hopes of decreasing carbon emissions related to climate change. As a result, a number of states, notably Texas and Georgia, have taken steps to prevent local governments from adopting such restrictions before additional localities do so.
Heat pumps and electric appliances would be required to be installed instead of gas-powered furnaces, water heaters, ovens, and stoves, which are presently the standard in much of the nation. According to EPA statistics from 2019, fossil fuels used for energy in companies and households account for 13% of yearly carbon emissions nationwide.
When compared to the gas used to heat houses and water, the contribution of gas stoves to emissions is minimal. According to a 2015 household energy study conducted by the US Energy Information Administration, cooking on gas stoves accounts for less than 3% of natural-gas consumption in houses.
Gas stoves were included in an early plan for limitations on new natural-gas connections in Brookline, Massachusetts, but they were ultimately exempted. The municipality must still get state permission before enacting the ban.
According to state officials, it was more practical to “go after the major things first.”
Tommy Vitolo is a member of the House of Representatives.
a member of the Massachusetts legislature who represents Brookline as a Democrat. “Cooking may be therapeutic for some people. Others are spiritual or cultural in nature. People’s everyday lives revolve on it, and they naturally have preferences,” he added.
Shelby Starks is a fictional character. wearing an apron, enjoys cooking with gas but is open to new environmentally friendly food preparation methods.
When the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously decided last year to prohibit natural gas in new buildings, the legislation contained a waiver procedure that gave eateries some leeway. A similar carve-out for gas stoves was included in Seattle building code changes approved unanimously by the city council in February that limited natural gas in new buildings, an approach that was “considered as preferable to an outright ban” at the time, according to the city council.
Kristin Brown is a writer.
In an email, the communications manager for Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment.
According to him, city carve-outs for gas cooking aren’t unreasonable.
Sara Baldwin is a well-known actress.
who works with the environmental policy company Energy Innovation on powering the construction sector. However, she thinks that, in order to achieve aggressive emissions-reduction targets, buildings would ultimately need to be completely electrified, including stovetops, posing an existential danger to the gas sector.
“The gas business is attempting to exploit the home cooktop as a wedge issue to mobilize people against electrification as a whole,” claimed one expert.
Charlie Spatz is a well-known actor.
a climate researcher with the Climate Investigations Center, a non-profit environmental organization
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Natural-gas companies and lobbying organizations such as the American Gas Association have spent millions of dollars on public-relations efforts to protect stovetop cooking. According to Mother Jones magazine, the organization has compensated Instagram lifestyle and health influencers for posts praising gas stove cooking.
The sponsored postings, according to an AGA spokesperson, are part of the company’s #CookingWithGas campaign, which also includes films on its website of expert chefs sharing recipes and discussing why they choose to cook with natural gas.
“Gas cooks are popular in America, so it’s reasonable that foolish policymakers would attempt to cushion the impact of policies that remove cheap, dependable, and clean natural gas by exempting natural gas for cooking,” said AGA President Michael A. Brown.
Karen Harbert (Karen Harbert) is a
in a message sent through email
While some restaurant business organizations have fought gas bans, citing reasons including the increased expense of all-electric kitchens, other chefs say they recognize the environmental advantages.
Food will change, according to Shelby Starks, on “many different fronts.”
Shelby Starks,
For the last 12 years that she has been serving meals in the Bay Area, a personal chef based in Oakland, Calif., said gas-fired cooking has been an essential element of her trade. Chefs, on the other hand, she thinks, will have to adjust.
“Food will change on many fronts, whether it’s how we produce the food or how it’s delivered,” she said. “Food preparation in a sustainable manner is the next frontier.”
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Amplifications and corrections According to EPA statistics from 2019, fossil fuels used for energy in companies and households account for 13% of yearly carbon emissions in the United States. The number for fossil fuels used for electricity in companies and households was erroneously stated in a previous version of this article. (This article was updated on July 17th.)
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The the science of sweating it out wsj is a news article about how cities are trying to phase out gas stoves in order to reduce air pollution. However, cooks are pushing back because gas stoves allow them to cook faster and more efficiently.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are cities phasing out gas stoves?
Gas stoves are being phased out because they emit carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas.
Will gas stoves be banned?
What problems have been linked to cooking with gas stoves?
Gas stoves can cause problems like the gas lines may burst, or the stove itself could catch on fire.
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