By Ed Ireland — August 1, 2023
Big Brother Warning: Banning gas stoves is just the start. A long list of household appliances are on the federal hit list to be either banned, made ineffective, or made too expensive to buy.
“Something is terribly wrong with the current direction of federal regulation. Not only are the number and scope of new rules out of control, but many are driven by the blind ambition to ban the use of fossil fuels without regard for the stability of the power grid or the actual health and safety of citizens.”
While EPA is finalizing rules that will essentially ban natural gas and coal-powered electricity generation, risking blackouts according to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, other federal regulators are working on plans to ban gasoline-powered portable generators. The very thing that people need when the power goes out, backup generators, will soon be back-door banned just in time for the power blackouts that the new EPA rules are poised to cause.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC, has proposed rules and regulations that would make nearly all existing portable gas generators illegal:
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) has preliminarily determined that there is an unreasonable risk of injury and death associated with acute carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning from portable generators. To address this hazard, the Commission proposes a rule under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) that limits CO emissions from portable generators and requires generators to shut off when specific emissions levels are reached.
While limiting CO emissions from portable generators and requiring generators to shut off when carbon monoxide emissions reach certain levels may sound reasonable, the proposed rules would remove nearly all existing portable gas generators from the market. Smaller gasoline generators would have to cut carbon monoxide emissions by 50%, and larger generators would have to cut emissions by up to 95 percent in only 6 months. Nearly all currently available models are expected to not comply with the new standard.
“Non-compliance” is the code word for bans. When the head of the CPSC, Richard Trumka, hinted that gas stoves could be banned because they were a “hidden hazard” in a January 2023 interview, the public outrage was swift, with many public figures and politicians weighing in. The Administration even trotted out President Biden to say that they would not ban gas stoves. He didn’t say that the plan was to regulate gas stoves out of existence, which technically is not a ban.
The same is true for portable gasoline generators. The CPSC will not “ban” generators; they will establish regulations that most existing generators cannot meet in time to re-engineer them into compliance. Once the proposed rules are in effect, manufacturers must comply with them in six months, thought it usually takes several years.
The regulations specifically ban manufacturers from stockpiling noncompliant generators before the new standards are enacted. In other words, the regulators know that the new rules will create an immediate shortage of generators, so they are writing regulations that guarantee shortages. Given that regulators must understand the life-and-death situations that require portable generators, this rule-making seems particularly designed to cause human suffering.
Having lived on the west coast of Florida for many years, I know full well how vital gasoline generators are. When Hurricane Charlie hit southwest Florida in August 2004, our power was out for three weeks. The only way we survived was by having gasoline generators. A generator could keep a small refrigerator running to keep some fresh food from spoiling and power a couple of fans. Southwest Florida has always been hot during the summer, regardless of what the climate change warriors say. We were hot, had no electricity, and gasoline generators kept us alive.
In a June 28, 2023, press release, Susan Orenga, executive director of the Portable Generator Manufacturers’ Association, said the CPSC proposal will:
create a shortage of essential portable generators during regional and national emergencies because it will prevent the sale of portable generators that are currently available on the market.
The notion of a government agency implementing rules that effectively ban gas generators, especially when the US power grids have become more blackout prone due to EPA rules, is especially concerning. It would be fair to ask if these federal agencies are trying to make life miserable or harm US residents. How else can these rules be explained?
Of course, portable gasoline generators are not only used in emergencies. They are necessary equipment for many tasks, such as for construction, welders, carpenters, roofers, and many other trades, that rely on gasoline generators to do their work. In a July 6 letter to the chairman of the CPSC, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) said:
Engine-driven portable welders are a vital piece of equipment for construction workers across the country. These welders are not consumer products, but rather industrial machinery used on construction sites. Finalizing the CPSC rule in its present form “will not only have a detrimental effect on manufacturers of these products and their suppliers, but also negatively impact the welders who rely on this equipment.
Is the CPSC trying to disrupt construction and increase unemployment? They certainly are acting like it.
CPSC justifies its proposed rules by arguing that carbon monoxide emissions have been harmful to human health:
From 2004 through 2021, there were at least 1,332 CO-related consumer deaths involving portable generators, or an average of about 74 lives lost annually, with thousands of non-fatal poisonings of consumers per year.
Fatalities have increased in recent years. For example, the three most recent years for which complete data are available (2017 through 2019), generator-related deaths have averaged 85 per year.
Unintended Consequences
Carbon monoxide risks? Irony of ironies: the boom in home generation has something to do with government policies wounding the grid with forced substitution of intermittent wind and solar for the reliables.
An NPR report noted “concern about the reliability of an aging electrical grid at the same time as the grid is being decentralized and decarbonized with increasing amounts of renewable energy.” And those generators are fueled by natural gas or diesel, not a battery apparatus.
Conclusion
Something is terribly wrong with the current direction of federal regulation. Not only are the number and scope of new rules out of control, but many are driven by the blind ambition to ban the use of fossil fuels without regard for the stability of the power grid or the actual health and safety of citizens.
And now, conservation policies seem to almost bless the virtue of conservation orders and rolling blackouts.
While U.S. anti-carbon policies are sacrificing the health and safety of its citizens, China is opening two new coal-fired power-generating plants per week. These US policies have virtually no impact on total global carbon emissions. This madness has to stop.
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Ed Ireland, adjunct professor at TCU’s Neeley School of Business, received his B.S. from Midwestern State University and Ph.D. from Texas Tech University. For more such posts, visit Thoughts About Energy and Economics.
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I have 3 portable generators, 7500w, 5500w, and 1600w.
I live off the grid in the summer and at least part of spring and fall. Fall especially, I don’t get enough sun to make solar a feasible alternative. Although I do use solar for at least 60% of my needs, with three exceptions my well pump and washing machine and my saws.
My well in particular is 220v and 13amps, so that’s about 3000watts minimum I need for my well, and of course when I run my washing machine the well needs to be available.
Living off the grid I do have a lower energy use profile, especially since i don’t need or use AC, where my primary home in Arizona AC is a matter of survival.
It seems they want to cut off my nose to spite my face.
I guess there needs to be a constitutional right to a generator.
These fraudulent idiot regulators feign their concern over 85 deaths a year from CO poisoning, but gleefully leave our borders wide open with welcome signs inviting the people to smuggle the fentanyl in that kills 107,000 people each year. These fascists should all be in prison.
The Trafficer-in-Chief, Joe Biden, should have his dereliction of duty on the U.S. southern border be part of his upcoming inpeachment hearings.
The Republican congress should focus on impeaching Biden. Threatening impeachment or trying to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, the border Czar is a distraction. Mayorkas is just following Biden’s orders. Biden is the problem. Focus on the problem.
I read an article recently that claimed that most of the people who were caught in a human trafficking sting operation were in the country illegally.
How many people will die each year in the blackouts these guys are causing?
I bet it’s going to be way more than 85.
BTW, I’d be surprised if many of those 85 CO deaths were from portable generators. I would bet that most are from wood heaters and fireplaces with blocked flues.
Portable and stationary generators are also used in agriculture to provide power to irrigation systems. I would hope those in the industry will voice their objections. Going any length of time not being able to replace a failed generator or install a new system could be problematic.
For the average Joe, I wouldn’t sell American ingenuity too short. All of the piece parts – small gas powered engine, alternators, voltage regulators, fuses, plugs, inverters, etc – are easy to obtain for someone to sell matched sets of parts, perhaps prewired with connectors, with instructions for a build-it-yourself generator. Or the easy way maybe to take a Ford F-150 onboard generator and match it to a small gas or diesel engine. If generators are off the market for any appreciable amount of time, someone will quickly fill the need in a way that skirts EPA regs.
Voters need to make certain they vote against parties and candidates that propose these asinine laws, restrictions and taxes; otherwise, they’ll find their lives are being made more inconvenient, uncomfortable and expensive. As for solving or even alleviating the climate “crisis” they’ll achieve next to nothing or less.
This is how the Biden Administration intends to increase the number of disaster fatalities to justify further measures to “fight climate change”. Resiliency is clearly a bad thing.
From the article: “Something is terribly wrong with the current direction of federal regulation”
That’s because radical Democrats are in power. Things go terribly wrong when radical Democrats are in power. And not just in the area of regulation, but in *all* areas.
Hmm. A 7500 watt generator operating 20/7 for 2 weeks could be easily replaced by a really, really big battery and a lot more money. What’s not to like?
Why ban and create controversy when you can regulate something to death and bury the rules in the fine print?
A week or so ago uncle Joe was in full dudgeon over someone saying that his administration was going to ban incandescent light bulbs. He was quite adamant that no bans were in place or planned.
Of course regulating them out of existence isn’t technically a ban.
All part of the Envirowahco plan to reduce the population.
Here in Kalifornia the bigest cost isn’t the emergency generator itself but the blackout shades, mufflers and thermal concealment measures necessary to keep the fact that you have power from attracting attention.
Reminds me of the steps marijuana growers used to have to go through.