Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) vetoed a bill that would have required the state to apply warning labels to gas stoves manufactured or sold online outlining the health risks of the product.
Newsom rejected the proposal on Friday, citing concerns the bill would codify “highly prescriptive labeling content” that could later be changed by legislative amendments. The bill also fails to enable “timely updates” of the latest scientific updates for consumers, Newsom said in his veto message.
“This static approach falls short in enabling timely updates to the labeling content that should align with the latest scientific knowledge so that consumers are accurately informed about their purchases,” Newsom said. “For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill.”
If signed, the legislation would have made California the first state in the country to mandate warning labels on gas stoves. Similar efforts were made in New York and Illinois but failed to take effect, with Democrats in the Empire State warning such a move would play into “gas stove hysteria.”
The California proposal passed the state legislature last month, but a significant number of Democrats voted against the proposal.
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The bill cited research from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that showed gas stoves emit unsafe levels of pollutants that exceed outdoor air quality standards. However, the bill received criticism from some home appliance groups who argued there is no substantial evidence of the health effects and that the label would ignore risks of pollutants stemming from electric stoves.
Newsom’s veto comes after gas stoves became a topic of national discussion as Republicans accused Democrats of seeking to ban gas stoves altogether with political overreach. The issue reached its peak last year when House Republicans passed a bill to prevent a nationwide ban on the appliance despite no proposal to do so.
