Nikki Haley overreaches with attack on Democrats over gasoline cars, gas stoves

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley took a broad swipe at Democrats, saying they want to take away freedoms — including behind the wheel and in the kitchen.

"They think they have a right to order us around, from lightbulbs we use to the words that we speak, and now they want to ban gas powered cars and gas stoves," said Haley in a March 3 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Haley didn’t identify which Democrats want those gas-related bans.

Haley’s spokesperson pointed to news articles showing some states are phasing out the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 and about a proposed Energy Department rule on gas stoves. Under that rule, half of the current models of gas stoves could not be sold in 2027. But that’s not a total ban.

"Haley’s statement leaves out the crucial word ‘new’ and also the ‘when,’" said Michael Gerrard, a Columbia University environmental law professor. "No one proposes taking away existing gasoline-powered cars or existing gas stoves."

Haley is a former South Carolina governor and served as United Nations ambassador during the Trump administration.

Gas stoves emit a poisonous gas when in use and several studies have linked emissions with increased health risks. There are also environmental risks. 

In January, the future of gas stoves became a political issue after Rich Trumka Jr., a Biden appointee on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, said that "products that can’t be made safe can be banned." 

But months earlier, no fellow commissioners supported his amendment for a proposed rule to address gas stove safety. Instead, the commission agreed to seek public comment on the amendment. The chair of the commission said he was not looking to ban gas stoves.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said Jan. 11 that Biden "does not support banning gas stoves."

The fight over gas stoves intensified in February when the Energy Department proposed a rule to set maximum energy consumption standards for new electric and gas cooking tops sold by 2027. The rule would lead to energy savings for consumers and environmental benefits. 

The proposal would mean that about half of the current gas stove models would not comply with the rule in 2027. But it’s not a blanket ban because it wouldn’t force the removal of stoves from peoples’ kitchens.

E&E News, a trade news site covering the environmental and energy sectors, said that the proposed rule won’t mean that half of stoves must be electric, but that manufacturers would have to change their stoves to meet the standards. 

We asked the White House whether Biden supports the rule proposal and were referred back to the Energy Department. An Energy Department spokesperson told PolitiFact that the Biden administration supports the rule proposal.

The proposed rule’s timing wasn’t a response to the fallout over Trumka’s remarks. 

The Energy Department started seeking opinions related to gas stoves in 2014 as part of a mandatory review of energy consumption standards. The department has until the end of January 2024 to issue revised standards or determine none are needed. 

Some critics of the proposed rule said that it meant the department wants to ban 96% of the market. That comes from a technical support document by the Energy Department that showed 20 of 21 models it tested failed to comply with the proposed rule. But the Energy Department said this was a small subset of models. 

Some jurisdictions aren’t waiting for the federal government to act. About 100 cities or counties have adopted zero-emission building ordinances, including some that require or encourage electrical appliances in newly built homes. But none of these moves would force the removal of existing gas stoves. 

Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has called for phasing out fossil fuel equipment in new construction, including gas stoves.

Several Republican-led states have passed bills to preemptively prevent a ban on gas hookups in new construction.

Angie Vorhies plugs in the charging cord to her Nissan Leaf electric vehicle at a mall Nov. 13, 2013, in San Diego. (AP)

Biden signed an order in 2021 setting a goal that 50% of new cars and light trucks sold in 2030 be zero-emission vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric or fuel cell electric vehicles. But this doesn’t equal a ban on gas cars.

Haley’s spokesperson pointed to news coverage about California’s new rule banning the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035. California must get permission from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and expects to get a waiver. Other states including New York, Washington, Oregon and Massachusetts have also announced policies that set the 2035 rule. 

Those five states are generally considered left-leaning. However, in Massachusetts, the bill to end the sale of new gasoline-powered cars passed the Democratic-led legislature and was signed by then-Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican.

These polices won’t ban the existence of gasoline-powered cars. A document about Oregon’s policy states: "You can continue to buy new gasoline cars up through the 2035 model year and used gasoline cars will continue to be available."

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A California Air Resources Board spokesperson, Dave Clegern, said the policy isn’t the same as an outright ban.

"No one must give up their vehicle in 2035, they may drive it until the end of its normal life, resell it within that time," he said.

Many other states have adopted California’s clean-air rules, which means that those states could, in the future, adopt the 2035 policy.

Most major automakers (aside from Tesla, which is now a major automaker and has always been all-electric) have not firmly decided when they will be all-electric in the U.S. market, said Ed Kim, president and chief analyst at AutoPacific, an automotive marketing research and product-consulting company.

General Motors Co. plans to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new U.S. light-duty vehicles by 2035.  

Sheila Foster, professor of urban law and policy and public policy at Georgetown University, agreed that these policies are not banning individuals from having gasoline-powered cars or gas stoves.

These laws are helping the U.S. transition to cleaner forms of energy, Foster said. 

"One thing is clear to me from these laws, no one will be ‘banned’ from keeping their gas stove or gasoline-powered car," Foster said.

Haley said Democrats "want to ban gas powered cars and gas stoves."

Haley’s spokesperson sent us articles about a few left-leaning states banning new gasoline-powered car sales by 2035. But people could keep gasoline-powered cars they already have.

The Energy Department proposed a rule that would render many of the current models of gas stoves obsolete for new hookups by 2027. But that’s not an outright ban, because no federal official would go into existing kitchens and rip out gas stoves. 

Haley’s statement misleads by tagging the Democratic Party broadly without specifically saying who has called for such policies. And she failed to explain that these are not blanket bans. Her statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context.

We rate this statement Half True.

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PolitiFact researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this fact-check.