Ninth Circuit Throws Out Berkeley Ban on Gas Stoves

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit tossed a Berkeley, California, ban on gas stoves on Monday, saying that the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act preempted state and local authorities in regulating natural gas.

The Courthouse News Service reported:

The three-judge panel’s ruling reverses a federal judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit by the California Restaurant Association claiming the Energy Policy and Conservation Act preempts the San Francisco Bay Area city’s ban. The group said the ordinance would affect chefs’ ability to prepare food the way they are typically trained — using natural gas stoves.

…

[Donald Trump appointee U.S. Circuit Judge Patrick Bumatay wrote:]  “States and localities can’t skirt the text of broad preemption provisions by doing indirectly what Congress says they can’t do directly. Berkeley can’t evade preemption by merely moving up one step in the energy chain and banning natural gas piping within those buildings.”

Carl DeMaio, chairman of Reform California, a conservative group, welcomed the ruling: ““We are thrilled with the 9th Circuit Court decision because this decision not only will apply to these mandates on new construction, but will also block the costly home retrofits that a number of cities and counties have been implementing.”

The Biden administration has taken steps toward eliminating gas stoves — though it briefly pretended otherwise — ostensibly to prevent asthma, but actually as part of a broader push against fossil fuel production.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.