Gas stoves and cigarettes are more alike than you think

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     October 23, 2023 More than 40 million households across the country have gas stoves, including mine. (Because this is New York City, the stove is about 3 feet away from me as I work.) But, despite their ubiquity, “evidence is piling up that they’re polluting homes with toxic chemicals,” as Grist’s Kate Yoder [wrote]( for our Climate Desk collaboration on Friday. These new findings punctuate an already alarming reality about gas stoves—one that we’ve been keeping an eye on at Mother Jones for years. In 2021, our then-staffer Rebecca Leber was one of the first to [deeply investigate]( gas stoves and the campaign by companies to hide potential harmful impacts. “Over the last hundred years, gas companies have engaged an all-out campaign to convince Americans that cooking with a gas flame is superior to using electric heat. At the same time, they’ve urged us not to think too hard—if at all—about what it means to combust a fossil fuel in our homes,” she wrote. According to an [investigation]( by NPR and documents uncovered by the watchdog group Climate Investigations Center, the gas utility industry knew for decades that these stoves were harmful. Instead of letting consumers know they could be at risk, the industry employed tobacco-style tactics to mislead Americans, even using the same researchers and public relations firms. To learn more about the history of the gas industry, I’d suggest reading Rebecca’s multidimensional investigation [here](. As we've written before, the transition away from gas stoves is [more complicated]( than a culture war. Maybe I'll heat something up for lunch in the microwave today. —Katie Herchenroeder Advertisement [Project on Government Oversight]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Utilities Have Been Lying to Us About Gas Stoves Since the 1970s]( They took a page out of Big Tobacco's playbook, a new investigation confirms. BY KATE YODER SPONSORED CONTENT BY PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT   The Supreme Court is long overdue for a code of ethics. For years, Supreme Court justices have taken actions that left the public questioning their impartiality. That must stop now. The Supreme Court must adopt a code of ethics and restore faith in the court. [Join the Project On Government Oversight’s fight for accountability and sign our petition.]( [Trending] [The UAW is going after one of the Big Three's key money makers]( BY ARIANNA COGHILL   [George Santos suggested the Chinese Communist Party kidnapped his niece. Huh?]( BY DAN FRIEDMAN   [Twenty-three journalists have been killed covering the Israel-Hamas war]( BY DAN FRIEDMAN   [Oklahoma teachers don't know if it's legal to teach "Killers of the Flower Moon"]( BY JACKIE FLYNN MOGENSEN Advertisement [Project on Government Oversight]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [How the Fossil Fuel Industry Convinced Americans to Love Gas Stoves]( And why they’re scared we might break up with their favorite appliance. BY REBECCA LEBER [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755