The Administration's war on fossil fuels has taken another ridiculous turn. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission is now considering a ban on gas stoves. New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says that "there is very concerning science about some of the emissions from gas stoves, especially around the cognitive development of children, asthma, cancer, etc." She suggests that use of gas stoves is linked to brain damage. However, there are photos of AOC in front of her kitchen gas stove, as well as pictures of other prominent democrats cooking with gas. (Remember: rules for thee, but not for me!) AOC counters with the fact that she rents her apartment and therefore cannot dictate her appliance choices.
Texas congressman Ronny Jackson commented: "AOC says that gas stoves reduce cognitive performance-yet she uses a gas stove. As a medical doctor I can tell you this: what's wrong with your (AOC's) head is not caused by gas stoves. Something way bigger is causing your decreased cognitive function!"
The Green New Deal promoted by AOC and other far left politicians is grossly short sighted. The alternative to gas cooking is electricity, and yet 40% of electricity is produced by natural gas. Other fossil fuels supply most of the rest. Renewables account for only a tiny fraction of electric supply, and that only when the sun is shining, or the wind blowing.
Here in Mississippi, agriculture is a large part of our economy. Natural gas provides the basic feedstock for nitrogen fertilizers through the production of ammonia. This is used for synthesis of ammonium nitrate and urea fertilizers. Years and years ago animal waste was used as fertilizer, but the left have discovered that cows produce methane (I will decline from describing that process!). Hamburgers therefore made their blacklist. When they found that didn't sell too well, they have soft peddled that argument.
In the refining of crude oil elemental sulfur is removed to reduce air pollution from the use of downstream products. Thousands of tons of molten sulfur are shipped annually from refineries to deposits of phosphate rock (for example in Bartow, Florida) where they are converted to sulfuric acid. The acid, in turn, is used to make super phosphate fertilizer. Although there are other natural supplies of sulfur, the refinery by-product is certainly the cheapest. If fossil fuels were eliminated or severely decreased as Green New Deal proponents desire, the price of fertilizer would skyrocket adding to the inflationary pressures on groceries.
If AOC was to study the contents of her apartment, she would find many products dependent upon fossil fuels. Undoubtedly, in her kitchen (besides her hateful gas stove) she has many plastic products such as food containers, kitchen tools, appliance parts, cling wrap, even the paint on her cabinets and walls. These are all derived from petroleum. In other parts of the apartment, she probably has synthetic carpets, and in her bathroom, she has a preformed shower stall and bathtub. (I want to assure my wife that I am speculating. I have not been in AOC's apartment!) Many of these things and the clothing she wears are colored using dyes that are produced from oil derivatives. Anything not made from glass or wood is probably a synthetic derived from fossil fuels. If petroleum products were banned where would these things have their origin?
The list goes on: lightweight vehicle siding (in place of metal), antifreeze, tires, some insulation, biodegradable detergents, some pharmaceuticals, and of course aviation fuels. But allow me to discuss the preformed items made from synthetic polyester resins. Pleasure boats are a good example of where these are used. If a fishing boat is not made from petroleum-based polyesters, it is probably made from aluminum. "Aha," the environmentalists will say, "here's an example of where we can contribute to saving the planet!" Let's examine that.
Aluminum is made from bauxite ore which is strip mined in Australia, Brazil, or the Republic of Guiana. Forests are cleared--usually by burning, and topsoil is removed before the bauxite is mined. It is estimated that 1.4 megatons of CO2 are released into the atmosphere during this mining operation. 56% of the world's aluminum is produced in China. 80% of that Chinese production is dependent on coal. During production an intermediate--alumina--is extracted and converted to aluminum using carbon electrodes and lots of electricity. The electrodes are disintegrated into CO2 in the process. Thus, immense amounts of greenhouse gases are released when aluminum is manufactured--hardly the panacea that the environmentalists were seeking.
Unless the Green New Deal proponents can come up with a viable alternative to fossil fuel derivatives, I'm afraid they will be suffering from the cognitive decline they now attribute to the use of gas stoves.
Peter Gilderson, Madison.
