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That spring, Arizona, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Louisiana passed laws preventing cities from banning natural gas. In Oklahoma, the gas industry has had the support of restaurants, hotels, home builders, and barbecue equipment manufacturers, as well as groups like AARP, the influential lobby for older Americans.

“The message was: ‘You don’t want these California liberals telling you you can’t have a gas stove,'” said Mary Boren, a Democratic state senator who voted against the law in Oklahoma.

Bill Malcolm, a senior legislative representative at AARP, said in a statement that the group “supports legislative and regulatory initiatives that allow customers to continue using the fuel of their choice to heat their homes and cook their meals.” “Direct bans on certain fuel options work against that preference,” he added.

When asked about the lobbying campaign this week, American Gas Association spokesman Jake Rubin said the group was “studying the effects of electrification and public perception of policies that will force American families to replace their natural gas appliances with more expensive, less efficient alternatives.” The association shared this research with groups that trust the affordability and reliability of natural gas, such as restaurants, manufacturers, appliance manufacturers, home builders, and low-income families, encouraging them to speak up about the damaging effects of these policies.”

This year, Republican-controlled legislatures in 16 additional states have passed measures banning cities from banning gas, including Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah. , West Virginia and Wyoming. A similar bill in North Carolina was recently vetoed by Democratic Chairman Roy Cooper, while another similar bill is under discussion in Pennsylvania.

Even in states that did not consider a gas ban, the backlash was fierce.

In Nevada this year, Lesley Cohen, a Democratic state legislator, proposed a bill to implement further inspection of the new natural gas infrastructure. Southwest Gas, the state’s largest gas company, worked to defeat the law by bringing together a wide variety of allies such as AARP. President of the Latin Chamber of Commerce warned He said the bill “could force abuelo and abuela to choose between medicine and groceries, or to affordably heat their homes in the winter.”