Why is a ban on gas stoves a front-burner issue for Colorado progressives? 

At the Capitol, and in blue bastions across the state, combating climate change is an overriding policy imperative, driving increased statutory and regulatory activity targeting numerous industries, including manufacturing, home building and, above all, energy. Ask business lobbyists from either party and they’ll uniformly express the concern these measures are expensive, threaten family-sustaining jobs, and hamper economic growth. The real-world threats from these efforts far outweigh any alleged incremental reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. 

For them, making Colorado a less-welcoming place to do business, pursue a career or simply live comfortably matters little so our state can do its microscopic part to “save the planet.”

That’s why leftists here and across the country turned up the heat on natural gas, and they’re all in on efforts to prohibit gas-powered stoves and other appliances. 

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Advocates say gas stoves are a threat to public health and the environment, claiming they emit harmful pollutants that compromise indoor air quality and contribute, en masse, to climate change. 

Being ever-reliable data-proof ideologues, they ignore numbers that show gas stoves being responsible for just 3% of aggregate U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. 

Beyond the numbers, it’s clear individuals from across the political spectrum don’t appreciate heavy-handed government officials micromanaging daily life. The push for us all to joyfully embrace the panacea of electric cars has taken a huge hit in the marketplace. And whether it’s a family cooking dinner, or a chef trying to keep a restaurant alive in a sluggish economy, people don’t like all the meddling. 

My burner, my choice. 

Enter the folks at Advance Colorado (a former client). In just the past year, they’ve successfully cut and capped your property taxes, increased state investment in law enforcement, and kept violent criminals in jail longer.  

They get stuff done. Strategically, they tap into issues that unite Republicans and Democrats against far-left overreach.  

So, they have introduced three ballot measures aimed at stopping efforts to limit your choice of appliances including stoves, lawn mowers, heaters and cars. One is statutory and two are constitutional changes, including a prohibition on government banning natural gas for cooking or heating. 

If Colorado voters agree — and I bet this racks up a huge win on next year’s ballot — it would reverse existing policies in liberal bastions such as Boulder and Denver and prevent our state from following in the footsteps of deep-blue New York and California. 

The Advance Colorado measures track with a national effort to turn down the heat on natural gas bans. President Donald Trump issued an executive order on day one to safeguard the “American people’s freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances.” Subsequently the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission abandoned the Biden-era efforts targeting gas stoves. 

Unlike some of Trump’s other executive orders, there has been little grassroots caterwauling. No rhythmic chanting from devotees of electric ranges. No vows from a weepy liberal he’ll take his battery-powered weed whacker “out of my cold dead hands.” 

Increasingly, it appears progressives believe the sum and substance of personal freedom begins and ends in the uterus. But beyond that, anything is fair game including your kitchen, garage, front lawn and furnace. 

And they are, as with so many issues, way out of touch with average Americans, including many Democrats. 

Chefs and restaurateurs, not known as a bunch of right-wingers, vehemently oppose bans on natural gas, with 94% in a National Restaurant Association survey saying they believe such bans would cause “immediate and lasting harm to restaurants.” 

Natural gas, once touted as a cleaner, eco-friendlier alternative to electricity generated from coal, is also less expensive, easier on the budgets of working families. And in a state where politicians continually tout their concerns about the lack of housing affordability, banning natural gas in new construction, or, eventually, forcing existing homeowners to replace gas stoves, would needlessly add costs.  

Cheers to Colorado conservatives for cooking up, on a roaring gas stove, one more great idea to push back on liberal nonsense. 

Sean Duffy, a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Bill Owens and longtime communications and media relations strategist, is senior vice president, communications at the Daniels Fund in Denver. The views he expresses are his own.