​DENVER – Western Energy Alliance today called on the Department of Energy (DOE) to abandon its cook stove rule intended to ban new gas stoves and compel a transition to electric under the guise of energy conservation standards. The rule violates the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) by saving an insignificant amount of energy while reducing consumer choice and eliminating features only available from natural gas stoves. The rule saves the individual consumer a negligible amount of energy worth between $0.79 and $1.51 annually, and runs afoul of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by using the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases to inflate supposed benefits.  
 
“Earlier this year, a Consumer Product Safety Commissioner made news by saying the federal government was working on banning gas stoves, citing debunked health claims. The White House went into clean-up mode, stating that President Biden doesn’t support a ban. Apparently he just doesn’t want to take responsibility, since his administration is moving forward with an energy conservation rule that would in effect ban new gas stoves,” said Kathleen Sgamma, president of Western Energy Alliance. “Only 4% of the marketplace—one model—meets the standard and the savings are negligible, 0.07% of residential energy and 0.001% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Such small savings justifies handcuffing neither America’s great culinary arts nor basic home cooking.

DENVER – Western Energy Alliance today called on the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to withdraw its interim guidance on National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change analysis. In a letter to CEQ, the trade association said the guidance changes the original intent of NEPA from informing agency decision-making to becoming a tool to drive broad climate change policy and limit the use of oil and natural gas. The guidance slows the  development of vital energy and infrastructure projects and increases the threat of litigation.
 
“Congress has not granted federal agencies the authority to determine climate change policy nor to dole out an energy ration to Americans. In the absence of a law that transitions America off reliable energy sources, the Biden Administration is using every lever of government to try to achieve the same result. CEQ is attempting to stack the deck against fossil fuel projects while increasing uncertainty and the potential for litigation for all types of infrastructure projects.” said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Alliance. ​