I might hate the beeping of induction, but in the stove climate wars I’ll turn the gas off
Barry Johnston gives his take on the culture war pitting gas hobs against induction – and finds that it’s time we think about what it means to make the switch, for the environment
It was the comedian Bob Hope who first coined the phrase, “now we’re cooking with gas” to denote an improved or more efficient level of performance. That the line was penned by an ex-gas industry ad exec who joined his writing room reminds us that the fossil fuel industry has a long and remarkably successful track record in winning over public opinion.
The famously republican-leaning comic would have enjoyed the recent spats between US legislators as a debate on the health and environmental safety of gas cookers (or stoves for our transatlantic cousins) boiled over into the newest front in the culture wars.
After the US product safety agency hinted at a future ban on gas cooking appliances, US congressman Ronnie Jackson took to Twitter to warn the government would have to pry his gas burner from his “cold dead hand”.
Cue the retort from the darling of the American Left, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who appeared to suggest the emissions from the Texan congressman’s cooker might be affecting his cognitive performance. Other pundits and politicians quickly settled along familiar partisan lines on the topic.
It’s rare for me to find myself on the same side as Joe Machin or Ted Cruz on any topic, but on gas hobs I’m torn. As a renter, I had an induction hob forced upon me in my last move and it’s not a change I have enjoyed. Quite aside from the need for new cookware there’s the constant risk of going one setting too high and incinerating whatever is in the pan. Then there’s the incessant beeping which has started to haunt me in my dreams. And the damned thing has to be scrubbed down every time you boil an egg. It lacks that primal, instinctive sizzle of food and flame.
Yet the science is clear. Gas hobs leak methane like a cow with indigestion even when switched off, and other emissions from those flickering blue flames are linked with higher incidences of asthma.
All of this may seem a little trivial coming as it did the same week that the hosts of this year’s climate summit, the United Arab Emirates, appointed the head of their state oil company as the chair of this year’s negotiations. Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum warned of dire consequences for the planet as the cost of living crisis risks corporates ditching their climate commitments.
The substantive point in the stove wars is an important one. We’re entering into a new phase of climate action where in many cases the low hanging fruit has already been plucked. More difficult decisions will have to be made, reaching far into people’s everyday lives. Switching from gas to electric will be just one of the innumerable lifestyle changes that are coming down the track for people in advanced economies. And of course this is nothing compared to the impacts on those already living in the frontline of the climate crisis.
Unlike what some climate culture warriors would have you believe, concern for the climate does not break down on left-right divides. People across class, race and generational barriers share profound concerns about the damage being done to our planet. But there is a risk this shared concern could be undermined if the responses are perceived to be unfair or disingenuous.
One thing is for sure, we can’t put these conversations on the back burner for much longer. And as for me and my induction hob? I guess I better get used to the beeping.