KEEPERS OF THE FLAME

Culture warriors, foodies and affluent homeowners are clutching their gas stoves. Can Americans finally be persuaded to switch to induction?

-  Aaron Gell

One night in early February, several thousand homebuilders, interior designers, general contractors and property flippers assembled in a Las Vegas hotel ballroom for the closing-night festivities of the annual Design + Construction Week, a smorgasbord of trade shows that includes the International Builders’ Show (IBS) and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS). For three days attendees wandered the floors of the Las Vegas Convention Center, many sporting fleece vests and branded ball caps, taking in the very latest in drawer pulls and engineered hardwoods, slip-resistant tiles and rain showerheads.

To cap off the events, rocker Sheryl Crow led her band through a dutiful set as residential construction professionals mingled in the rear of the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino ballroom, talking shop. The chatter touched on mortgage interest rates and material costs and the dismal work ethic of a younger generation. But most alarming of all was the possible intrusion of federal bureaucrats into a deeply fraught and intensely personal decision many couples prefer to make in the privacy of their own home.

Gas or induction?

Just weeks before, Richard Trumka Jr., one of the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s five members, ignited a national frenzy with his stark warning to a Bloomberg News reporter that the humble gas stove—a central feature of some 40% of US kitchens—poses a serious health risk, especially to children, and might therefore be a candidate for government regulation. “Any option is on the table,” he declared. “Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”