U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. pushed back against the firestorm his comments about banning gas stoves created, calling the anger "misdirected."
"When you learn upsetting new information about something you’ve been around for a long time — maybe your whole life — you can never predict people’s reactions," he said. "And there is going to be justifiable anger, and sometimes it’s misdirected," he told The Washington Post.
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Trumka was appointed by President Biden in 2021 and is the son of labor union leader, Richard Trumka, the longtime president of AFL-CIO.
The Biden official admitted to the paper that his work and experience as a father made him "paranoid" about every day hazards.
"It’s very easy to see how everyday things can be hazardous," Trumka said to the outlet adding later, "I’m much more paranoid than the average person."
But the Biden official hoped the national debate over gas stoves caused more people to be aware of how their indoor appliances could be causing health risks due to pollution.
"People have that information and can make choices for themselves at this point," Trumka told the paper. "That’s fantastic."
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The Post noted that the Consumer Product Safety Commission is in "the very early stages" of determining regulations on new gas stoves, after "years of research" has found they emit nitrogen dioxide.
But when asked by Fox News Digital, the government agency could not provide any specific studies that backed up these claims to justify a ban on these products.
Bans against stoves have started at the local and state level. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed abolishing the sale of gas-powered appliances and banning their installation in new buildings by 2025.
Democrats and far-left environmental groups are pushing to regulate several other household appliances, from water heaters to furnaces, to washing machines to microwaves and shower heads in their quest to get Americans away from fossil fuels.
"We’re actually going to do 100 rules this year alone on appliances," former top White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy said during a speech last May. "We are developing partnerships on how we work together for new building standards."
But when news broke earlier this month that the Biden administration was considering a ban on gas stoves, it created a backlash from the public, restaurant owners and Republicans who slammed the move as an example of government overreach.
Fox News' Kristen Altus and Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.
