The gas-burning stoves loved by cooks leak so much methane across the U.S. — most when the appliances are not even in use — that they have the same impact on our atmosphere as half a million cars, according to a Stanford University study.
Stanford researchers analyzed indoor levels of both heat-trapping methane and nitrous oxides — pollutants that can trigger asthma and other breathing problems — and found surprising amounts of each seeping from stoves. The study, released Thursday, comes as communities nationwide debate whether to ban natural gas use in new buildings as part of the fight against climate change, and as the gas industry mobilizes to block such bans.
“Gas stoves warm the planet and release indoor air pollutants that you breathe — you get both,” senior author Rob Jackson, an environmental scientist at Stanford, said in an interview. Eliminating gas service for newly built homes makes sense, he said, “otherwise we’re locking in greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come.”
