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glitchinc | 2 years ago
Why not incentivize buyers to buy electric stoves (e.g., tax credits) or incentivize OEMs to lower the cost of electric stoves?
As someone who’s house is intentionally and entirely designed around the premise that we lose mains power on a routine basis due to poor infrastructure and challenging environment (a mountain with dense forest), and wish to have a means for cooking food indoors without electricity, I have a propane stove. It is the only viable option as far as I am concerned, and as such, I am willing to pay a premium for one if I need to replace the unit I have. But if I can’t get a replacement propane stove in the future, what am I supposed to do? Overhaul my house at my own expense? Pay the electric company the multiple millions of dollars it would take to modernize their infrastructure to make an electric stove a viable option?
Shifting that much burden onto someone like me is absurd, as is this ban. There are numerous other ways to address the problem that the ban aims to solve.
Bans are rarely—if ever—good solutions, and should only ever be used as a measure of last resort. The situation at hand is far from one of last resort. But apparently the US is fully mired in the unfortunate “bans are the best way to score political points” phase of its history… one that I think we’d all be best served to put behind us quickly.
nonethewiser|2 years ago
We have long passed treating people as adults. If people don’t see your way they are either manipulated, stupid, irrational, or malevolent.
1letterunixname|2 years ago
Thorrez|2 years ago
The downside of a tax is it's harder to implement, so there will be inefficiency in the system. A ban is easy.
bradlys|2 years ago
It's really a slow phaseout. People are getting upset over nothing. You're not all buying new homes anyway.
sp332|2 years ago
eesmith|2 years ago
Do you live in New York State? Otherwise it would seem like complaining about California earthquake construction requirements when you live on a houseboat in Georgia.
Also, these bills only concern new construction, not older houses, so wouldn't affect you.
> and wish to have a means for cooking food indoors without electricity
From earlier this year, at https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/13/hochul-backs-ban-ga... , "The [replacement] proposal does not include gas stoves, according to the governor’s office."
> Pay the electric company the multiple millions of dollars it would take to modernize their infrastructure to make an electric stove a viable option?
The linked-to page says "requirements for reliable service [are] already enshrined in state law" and "A potentially major caveat on grid reliability pushed by Assembly Democrats and a major gas utility also hasn’t been finalized, leading environmental advocates to moderate their enthusiasm until they see the final wording."
That reads like NY will require the electric companies to modernize their grid, not you.
> Bans are rarely—if ever—good solutions, and should only ever be used as a measure of last resort.
Umm, housing and fire codes ban a lot of construction practices. Do you consider them a measure of last resort? Or scoring political points?
As an example, when Hurricane Andrew came through South Florida in 1992 there was a widespread realization that the building codes weren't good enough. ("South Florida building codes were completely revamped based on studies about compromised garage doors, roof structures, basically how to hold houses together, according to Gracia Szczech, FEMA Region IV director. Homes built today in the state of Florida are far stronger than pre-Andrew." - https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/lessons-learned-30-years-... )
Governor Chiles got "political points" for pushing improvements in those codes, which, yes, outright banned certain building practices.
You make it seem like that was a bad thing.
And in any case, we've known that gas furnaces result in CO poisoning deaths every year. If safer alternatives exist - which seems to be the case in NY - how many deaths do you need until you say a ban is indeed the proper last resort?