The following is a guest article by Hans Fiene.
The secular left keeps seeking the fulfillment of religious impulses with unsatisfying substitutes.
A few days ago, I got up to grill myself a quesadilla in a world where gas stoves were apolitical appliances. When I returned, the political left had declared them a threat to humanity. Richard Trumka Jr. of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission stated that a ban on gas stoves should be on the table because, as New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would quickly inform us, “exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance.”
New York governor Kathy Hochul has already introduced a proposal to ban gas stoves in new homes and commercial construction by 2030. Likewise, many journalists predictably informed us that the real story wasn’t the leftist threat of stove-seizing but the conservative freakout. The science is settled. The decree has gone out. How can anyone even argue with this? Petroleum delenda est.
The hivemind being all the rage these days, it’s not terribly surprising to watch the left unite against gas stoves in less time than it takes to fry an empanada. What is somewhat unnerving, however, is the tone of the debate. As National Review’s Charles C.W. Cooke noted, “this is one of the creepiest parts of modern progressivism. AOC had never tweeted about stoves before yesterday, but, when she did for the first time, her tone was one of weary condescension toward the bitter-enders whom she’s been trying to inform for years. It’s cultish.”
Cooke is not wrong. The progressive attack against gas stoves certainly exudes a kind of glassy-eyed, monotone aura. Gas stoves are bad. Gas stoves have always been bad. The holy mouth of Science has declared it. Haven’t you heard the gospel of induction stoves? Why are you questioning the ageless wisdom we all just started speaking five seconds ago?
Once again, the secular left demonstrates its habit of seeking the fulfillment of religious impulses with unsatisfying substitutes. Leftists are hungering for a prophet to speak eternal truths but have categorically ruled out the prophets who wrote the words of Holy Scripture. …
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Mark Behrens says
Love listening to your Podcast, Created to Reign! I have question. Has there been a study done that if the US were tomorrow convert every car on the road to electric what would be the electrical power requirements need to be to charge all of these cars. How much more coal & natural gas would we need to just charge these cars? I know that wind & solar would NOT be of any real help. The end question would be would this really help with climate change and the carbon footprint? It seems to me that all we would be doing is shifting the problem instead of cars needing gas to run, we would need to burn more coal & natural gas. To me this would be worse than just using gas.
Thanks.
David R Legates says
Thanks, Mark, for your question. See:
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2020/01/09/electric-cars-will-challenge-state-power-grids
It is three years out of date, but it explains the potential problem.