Highlights: A study this summer found that using a single gas stove burner on high can raise levels of cancer-causing benzene above what’s been observed from secondhand smoke.

A new investigation by NPR and the Climate Investigations Center found that the gas industry tried to downplay the health risks of gas stoves for decades, turning to many of the same public-relations tactics the tobacco industry used to cover up the risks of smoking. Gas utilities even hired some of the same PR firms and scientists that Big Tobacco did.

Earlier this year, an investigation from DeSmog showed that the industry understood the hazards of gas appliances as far back as the 1970s and concealed what they knew from the public.

It’s a strategy that goes back as far back as 1972, according to the most recent investigation. That year, the gas industry got advice from Richard Darrow, who helped manufacture controversy around the health effects of smoking as the lead for tobacco accounts at the public relations firm Hill + Knowlton. At an American Gas Association conference, Darrow told utilities they needed to respond to claims that gas appliances were polluting homes and shape the narrative around the issue before critics got the chance. Scientists were starting to discover that exposure to nitrogen dioxide—a pollutant emitted by gas stoves—was linked to respiratory illnesses. So Darrow advised utilities to “mount the massive, consistent, long-range public relations programs necessary to cope with the problems.”

These studies didn’t just confuse the public, but also the federal government. When the Environmental Protection Agency assessed the health effects of nitrogen dioxide pollution in 1982, its review included five studies finding no evidence of problems—four of which were funded by the gas industry, the Climate Investigations Center recently uncovered.

Karen Harbert, the American Gas Association’s CEO, acknowledged that the gas industry has “collaborated” with researchers to “inform and educate regulators about the safety of gas cooking appliances.” Harbert claimed that the available science “does not provide sufficient or consistent evidence demonstrating chronic health hazards from natural gas ranges”—a line that should sound familiar by now.

  • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    "Make no mistake, radical environmentalists want to stop Americans from using natural gas. The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s proposed ban on gas stoves is the latest egregious scaremongering by the Far Left and their Biden administration allies. I am pleased to partner with Senator Manchin in this bipartisan effort to stop the federal government from issuing regulations that put the interests of the Green New Deal before the well-being of American families,” said Senator Cruz.

    • ngdev@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      We tried voting him out, we really did. Coincidentally, he beat Beto by a very small margin while there was a small percentage of voting machines that reportedly flipped votes for Beto (I think they would flip them to Cruz, and if you didn’t double check all your votes before casting them, then a Beto voter could have inadvertently voted Cruz)

      • PLAVAT🧿S@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        If you take the larger words out of this comment it really reads like Trump wrote it.

        Supporting article below.

          • PLAVAT🧿S@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            Is there such a thing?

            My comment was in reference to a lack of trust in voting machines, and it reminded me of someone else who thinks they “flip votes” while not providing evidence.

            • ngdev@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Yeah there was a whole thing about it at the time, it made news and was credible. The fix for it being of course to double check your ballot before you cast, which could easily be a miss by a first time voter or maybe an elderly one.

              My comment was in reference to the fact that Ted Cruz is a moron, and that we came really close to getting him out, but I do think there were some shenanigans with voting. Just the other way.

              Every accusation is an admission

              Here’s an article about it, a quick Google returns a ton of results

              https://apnews.com/texans-say-voting-machines-changing-straight-ticket-choices-a8825810d10441f2ad828e95d6851d55

              • PLAVAT🧿S@sh.itjust.works
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                1 year ago

                Appreciate the response and apologize for casting aspersions. Seems like a legit issue, hope y’all get new hardware soon.